How can you live knowing that you have no purpose, because there can be no purpose in chance, right? Or it wouldnt be chance, would it? How can you live your life believing that it has no purpose?
2007-11-02 12:58:33 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Atheism in my opinion is as illogical as religion.
2007-11-02 13:00:54 · update #1
I dont believe in serving or worshiping god or that i will be rewarded in an afterlife or any of the mumbo jumbo, im just asking how you can have a purpose in your life like raising your kids if your life is just an accident.
2007-11-02 13:30:39 · update #2
My purpose is not determined by god, stop assuming that all theists belong to a religion. The only assumption i made was that there can be no purpose in chance. Isnt this true?
If theres an accident, and you manage to figure out a purpose to that accident, then it wouldnt be an accident by difinition, would it?
2007-11-02 13:34:08 · update #3
If by purpose you mean "the obsessive need to shove our beliefs down everyone's throats", then no honey, we don't have any purpose.
*Cheers*
2007-11-02 13:06:33 · answer #1 · answered by Pangloss (Ancora Imparo) AFA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An atheist's life is not guided by chance, it's guided by choice just like everyone else's. Purpose is not only given by belief in some type of eternal life. If a devout Christian was somehow given full unequivocal proof that God does not exist, that person would not begin killing, hurting, or even become ambivalent towards others. Morality is entirely separate from dogmatic belief. It is entirely conceivable that an atheist could live a full and robust life with a stated purpose of making life better for those around him and for those that will inhabit this earth in the future.
How do dogs and bugs and bacteria live without a belief in God? They live by doing what is best for the continued existence of the genes that make them up.
Read some Richard Dawkins...
2007-11-02 13:07:46 · answer #2 · answered by jonviglione 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh for crying out loud! I DO have a purpose - I have a husband, two fantastic kids and a love of humankind. My purpose is to raise my children to be good people and to make a difference for the better in THIS life, the only life we know we have!
How can anyone live their life thinking - but not knowing for sure - that the best will come after they're dead. It's pathetic!
Edited in response to your additional details:
Why should it make a difference whether the universe and life came about by accident or not? The point is we have a life and it's up to us whether we want to do something useful with our lives or not. I do and that is my purpose. Deal with it.
2007-11-02 13:05:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My life has the meaning and purpose that I give it. I don't need a religion or god to give my life purpose. Saying something like "how can you live knowing that you have no purpose" is very ignorant, in my opinion.
2007-11-02 13:28:05 · answer #4 · answered by Two quarters & a heart down 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My life has lots of purpose and meaning. I don't understand the theist view on this. Is your only purpose worshiping a deity? Is your life only meaningful if it continues forever or was planned by a deity? I think you would find if deities were disproved you wouldn't choose to end your life. You would still find purpose in your loved ones, in the enjoyment of a thousand simple pleasure like the sun on your face, perhaps in trying to improve the world, or an intellectually fulfilling career, or your children, etc... There are so many sources of joy, purpose, meaning, and pleasure to me I can't understand why theists think atheists' lives are joyless and devoid of meaning.
2007-11-02 13:17:07 · answer #5 · answered by Zen Pirate 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Illogical? It seems logical to you that some great big man with a lever to a trap door can whimsically decide whether you burn or not? That republicans are right and democrats are wrong? That without religion there would be social chaos? That it only makes sense to play it safe and believe, just in case you're wrong? What I see in atheism is a freedom of mind, will, and purpose. People flying around with wings doesn't make sense to me.
2007-11-02 13:05:46 · answer #6 · answered by Sarrafzedehkhoee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheism isn't a rejection of purpose. It's a lack of belief in higher governing powers.
Also consider that many "atheists" are actually agnostic. These people tend to believe that God (or purpose) cannot really be determined by us, and that it's pretty irrelevant to insist that God necessarily does (or does not) exist.
2007-11-02 13:02:53 · answer #7 · answered by Buying is Voting 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Like this:
I don't believe that any deities exist. I think that all religions and concepts of god(s) are man-made to deal with mortality.
That was easy :)
It is clear where the error in your thinking lies: you think a life's purpose must come from someone or somewhere else, and failing that, no purpose can exist. Incorrect.
I have a purpose. My purpose here is not of divine origin but of my own choosing. My life is what I make it. I have no one to blame and no one to credit but myself and what I allow to influence me.
2007-11-02 13:06:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm with the little green guy. Your premise that atheism equates to not having a purpose is unsupported. Make your own purpose.
2007-11-02 13:05:06 · answer #9 · answered by eddygordo19 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life has no purpose unless you give it one. Wasting it, wishing I had a big invisible sky being looking after me, that I must obey and worship constantly, does not sound like much a purpose to me.
2007-11-02 13:30:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off... yeah, illogical as a religion, because it's the people who call it a religion that are illogical. And we aren't the ones who call it that.
It's not a religion.
I give my own live purpose.
2007-11-02 13:04:42 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋