Question for atheists?

Question

Serious question - Since you believe there is no continuance after you die, what is your purpose for living? Again, I'm asking a serious question...what is the point to your life? I've heard rememberance, people remember you when your gone, but as we all know within 50 years of your death the chances of someone still alive that has pasted on your memory is nil.

So my question again is, please tell me what purpose your life serves and/or what is reason for existing? I'm very curious about the answers, so please, try to answer as best as possible.

Thanks in advanced

Cupid stunt - Thats funny
As for the rest of you, why so hateful? I asked a question because I was curious and wanted to learn, nothing more. What I see as a common theme here is 90% of the respondees are just as sensitive at someone asking about their beliefs as the Christains you attack.
What is living if there is no purpose? Don't you get bored if you do the samething over and over? And to the read a book to enjoy it, I answer, yes so that I can read another one. Do you only read one book in life?

Answer 1

We must each find our own purpose.

Answer 2

Questions like this always confuse me. It's as though nothing can have meaning unless it is everlasting. If I give my girlfriend a bouquet, the flowers will probably die within a week, but that doesn't mean it had no purpose.

As for what kind of purpose I have, I don't believe I have any given purpose. My life is an insignificant entity within the universe. But I don't really care what the universe thinks. It's my opportunity to pursue my goals and live by my own standards. I don't need someone to arbitrarily assign a purpose to my life when I can take care of that myself.

I also don't understand why people consider living to praise an almighty being is a worthy purpose. He's under no illusions. He knows how awesome he is. He could do in an instant what we do in our entire lives. So I don't see why he would need to hear from vastly inferior beings how amazing he is. I would rather live striving for my own goals than satiating some perfect being's vanity.

Answer 3

This is what separates me as agnostic from the "true" atheists. I do NOT know what happens to my consciousness after death, and I won't presume to have the answers. That would be arrogant, wouldn't it?

Each person spends their entire life defining its purpose, so I also cannot tell you what my true purpose in life is either.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep learning and experiencing as much as the world has to offer, be responsible for my own happiness, and homefully make the place a little better for my being here.

I think that's better than mindlessly preaching the same tired stories over and over again while voting Republican and waiting around to die and MAYBE go to heaven. All I really know for a fact is that I'm here right now, and I plan to use my existence to its utmost.

As for the afterlife, I'll find out when I get there. Same as everybody.

Answer 4

If you are a believer/religious, then do you consider that your life only has meaning because you will be rewarded with heaven when you die? I do not want to be guilty of having offered a rude response to your thoughtful question, but I think that life holds different meanings for different people regardless whether or not they are religious. I doubt that I would have lived my own in another way had I been able to subscribe to Christianity since I was exposed to it in my formative years and found that, as a skeptic (which is inherent in me and is inalterable), I was unable to accept the doctrine. In a few hundred billion years more or less, the Universe will end, and we will all be forgotten whatever our earthly accomplishments. You can not really know that you will be dwelling happily then in paradise, for your beliefs are based upon faith. We should all conduct our mundane existences as if this were all there were because the here and now is what we can depend upon to define us as human beings. I hope that my answer will prove that refutation of your concepts can be done with kindness!

Answer 5

What a strange question. As an atheist my purpose in life is simple. Live my life, enjoy each and every second of it, treat all the people I meet with respect, love those that matter most, raise my children with love, never have any regrets because in all that I've done I know I did the absolute best I could.

Why would I need the threat of some god(s) hanging over my head?
Why would I need the false (and rather silly) promise of some eternal life?

If a god or some religion is your main purpose in life then you have a very sad and pitiful life.

Answer 6

The point is to make something of it. Not because you have to, or else you'll burn in a fiery pit for eternity, and not because if you play the game right, you'll finally have that mansion you were never able to acheive here on earth, but because you have the chance.

You have a life - some abilities, virtues, talents, desires...and you convey those genetic gifts into something tangible...something special and unique and your own.

You have the opportunity to pursue anything you'd like. You could go many places and do many things, if you want. You could explore, create, or entertain if you desire.

Or, you could stay in one place throughout your entire existence, and develop incredible bonds with those you love and care about the most. You could have incredible family ties, and build businesses or continue family traditions, representing yourself and your family name with honor.

You could strive to help others who are less fortunate, and look back at your accomplishments through the success of those you've helped.

These are only a few examples of why I feel we exist.

We were not magically created to serve as folly for some omnipresent being who will keep his favorites as pets once they die.

We are here, and if we embrace the life we have, and live it to it's fullest goodness, who cares if we're remembered in 50 years?

We'll have LIVED!

Answer 7

From digitalfreethought:
Q. If you don't believe in God, then what is the point of living?

Why does living need to have a "point" at all? Do the "lilies of the field" need to have a point to live?

If you must have a "point", then decide on your own meaning of life. We believe that it's much better do determine our own purpose, than to have some church do it for you based on their agenda!

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Q. Doesn't being an Atheist "cheapen" life?

A. Actually religion cheapens life. Being an Atheist makes life more precious. Since there is no after-life, you must come to terms with the fact that this is the ONLY life you'll get. If an atheist throws himself in front of a bus in order to save a child, that action is much more meaningful than if a Christian did the same thing. The Christian thinks they'll just go to heaven and live there!

Look at the 9/11/2001 massacre in New York and Washington D.C. Those religious (Muslim) people thought that their actions would hasten and ensure their entry into eternal bliss, but what they actually did was throw away the only life they had in an act of "faith".

Answer 8

Religion offers no more purpose than atheism. Religion gives life purpose within existence but it has no purpose to offer for existence as a whole. And that is because it couldn't. The lack of purpose is not because there is an empty space where purpose should be but isn't. It's because there is no space for purpose to exist. Purpose is a meaningless concept when we are talking about existence as a whole.

My philosophy is that if in life you stop to smell the roses, and they smell wonderful why do you need a purpose?

Answer 9

I'm an agnostic and I do not believe in anything beyond the life we have here on earth. No one is born with a purpose for their life - that would be predestination and I certainly do not believe in that. Each of us, in our own unique ways, makes our own purposes if we so choose to. I love life - I have a wonderful husband, great family and friends, live in a good community who help each other, have a roof over my head, enough to eat and feed anyone else who would so happen to come to my table and a good job. In short, I have a lot of love in my life and my purpose is to not only be happy and enjoy the life I lead, but to help others do the same.

Answer 10

My purpose is that this is all I have. Who said there was a set purpose. Is my purpose the same as yours? Probably not. I live for many many things. I really don't care if I'm remembered. Why should I be remembered, any of us. Humans are so egotistical. We all believe that we have purpose and meaning and We must mean something very special to a god or we wouldn't be here. Nah.

Answer 11

I wrote a lot, but I have a few points

First: all Atheists are different. Remember, an Atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in god. That doesn’t mean that they don’t believe in a life after death. I myself do not believe in a life after death, but again, all Atheists are different.

Second: Remembrance is a good one. There are lots of people who do great things who are remembered hundreds of years after they die (even if not by the general population), but you are right. Eventually all of humanity will cease to be and there will be no one to remember me. Even if I am not remembered, it doesn’t mean that my life doesn’t effect events that change the world for the better in the future. I also live my life to be happy. That is purpose enough for me, but everyone is different. We all have different “purposes”

Third: No one owes a purpose. What if I have no purpose? We aren’t owed a purpose. No one owes us a god and no one owes us a heaven. Just because we want a purpose, doesn’t mean there is any, but personally, I think there is a lot of purpose to life.