The Purpose of life for an Atheist

talk
41

I don’t think that religions and beliefs can be catagorised as definitively as they are. As we have seen, even in this thread alone, every individual has their own individual idea of their religion or faith. There are evangelical extremist Christians and passive Muslims. Not everyone should be tarred with the same brush. Therefore each person’s purpose in life will be different depending on the person.

I personally am an atheist. I do think that a person’s religion is of great comfort to them in times of sadness or pain but as an atheist I cannot comprehend what gives them the comfort. Perhaps it is the knowledge (in Christianity at least) that after they die they will meet up with all their dead family members in “Heaven”. Which brings me to another of the reasons why I am an atheist. What is heaven? Surely heaven would be different for all people. What may be heaven for some might be hell for others.

My favourite of all the religious beliefs is the Bhuddist belief in reincarnation. The idea that after you die your soul is returned to life in the form of another being appeals to me. However, I don’t believe in it. Just like the idea that I could have magical powers appeals to me, but I don’t believe it will ever happen.

Atheists (I know, I’m generalising but bare with me) believe that they only get one shot at life. There are no miracles, no divine interventions and everything happens by chance. If anyone here has seen the movie ‘Signs’ (sorry to drag films into this but I’m making a point) they will have been introduced to the idea that everything that happens on earth is planned in advance by God. If this is so then why would God have allowed the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent people at the hands of the aliens just in order to bring back the lost faith of a former priest?

Originally posted by ramo-integ
forgive them father for they know not what they have done… You guys will have to answer for everything u say and do…

As atheists we are not worried about God punishing us for our ‘sins’ because we don’t believe in God and therefore we do not believe in the idea of sin. This is why atheists, agnostics and nihilists can’t be scared into religion. The fact that religious people believe so strongly in what we see as unfounded theories scares us away from religion. Atheists seek rational explanations for things which Christians, Muslims, Jews, Bhuddists, Hindus, Sheiks (I think I spelled that wrong, sorry) and believers in other religions are happy to accept as God’s (or a god’s) work.

I have tried not to be one sided in this post but as with all issues of religion it is difficult as I have my own beliefs. I don’t mean to offend anyone with what I’ve said so if I have I apologise. I am happy to let you have your beliefs if you will let me have mine. Thank you for your time.

42

I don’t think that religions and beliefs can be catagorised as definitively as they are. As we have seen, even in this thread alone, every individual has their own individual idea of their religion or faith. There are evangelical extremist Christians and passive Muslims. Not everyone should be tarred with the same brush. Therefore each person’s purpose in life will be different depending on the person.

I personally am an atheist. I do think that a person’s religion is of great comfort to them in times of sadness or pain but as an atheist I cannot comprehend what gives them the comfort. Perhaps it is the knowledge (in Christianity at least) that after they die they will meet up with all their dead family members in “Heaven”. Which brings me to another of the reasons why I am an atheist. What is heaven? Surely heaven would be different for all people. What may be heaven for some might be hell for others.

My favourite of all the religious beliefs is the Bhuddist belief in reincarnation. The idea that after you die your soul is returned to life in the form of another being appeals to me. However, I don’t believe in it. Just like the idea that I could have magical powers appeals to me, but I don’t believe it will ever happen.

Atheists (I know, I’m generalising but bare with me) believe that they only get one shot at life. There are no miracles, no divine interventions and everything happens by chance. If anyone here has seen the movie ‘Signs’ (sorry to drag films into this but I’m making a point) they will have been introduced to the idea that everything that happens on earth is planned in advance by God. If this is so then why would God have allowed the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent people at the hands of the aliens just in order to bring back the lost faith of a former priest?

Originally posted by ramo-integ
forgive them father for they know not what they have done… You guys will have to answer for everything u say and do…
As atheists we are not worried about God punishing us for our ‘sins’ because we don’t believe in God and therefore we do not believe in the idea of sin. This is why atheists, agnostics and nihilists can’t be scared into religion. The fact that religious people believe so strongly in what we see as unfounded theories scares us away from religion. Atheists seek rational explanations for things which Christians, Muslims, Jews, Bhuddists, Hindus, Sheiks (I think I spelled that wrong, sorry) and believers in other religions are happy to accept as God’s (or a god’s) work.

I have tried not to be one sided in this post but as with all issues of religion it is difficult as I have my own beliefs. I don’t mean to offend anyone with what I’ve said so if I have I apologise. I am happy to let you have your beliefs if you will let me have mine. Thank you for your time.

43

What is the purpose of life for an atheist? Is not their ultimate task suicide?

I’ll just stick to this and not go into the discussions that are already going on, but I will say I got a good chuckle at drawing an analogy of Christians being the scary gang in your neighborhood that you join just so you can walk around and not feel threatened… too much…

The purpose of my life is to live it. I was born and will some day die. I have an undetirmened amount of time here and I will do what I can to enjoy it and create rewarding things to leave behind; works, children…

I’m not sure how you drew the connection to suicide. Just because I don’t beleive in god doesn’t mean I want to kill myself.

I live everyday with a good set of moral values and take resposibily for my actions. If your god does exist and I meet him when I die then he will see the way I lived and let me into your heaven. I’m not so concerned with what happens when I die, but more so about what happens today.

Tomorrow Never Comes… It’s Always Today.

44

Well said EthanM. I agree with your point about morals and their God seeing that.

45

well put, I don’t care what happens when I die because I’m dead, and my life’s intention is to become happy. A side to that might also be helping other people become happy if possible :P.

46

Personnaly I think that an Athiest “Missionary” is just as bad as any other Missionary.

But, that aside, my beleifs are not liked by either religious people nor athiest, because Im very critical of relgions, esspecialy organized religion, yet I am not athiest.

One thing I hate alot, is when people speak for God. Chrisitans should be the first to admit that God is beyond our human knowldge so its pointless to try to interpret his actions. Like scaring people to accept God, or pursuading or whatever. You will not decide if the athiest will go to hell or not, its not up to us. Second of all, christians of all people should not be judging anyone:

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”
1 Corinthians 6:2

I dislike the bible, but I’l quote it anyway.

Gods coming is near when there are wars upon wars…

Ahh, good ol’ doom preachers!
You guys never get old.

Honestly, you would think that after they got it so many times wrong they would just shut it and kinda sit quiet…
You have to realize people have been peaching Doom since the biggining of time, and also listing a long list of so called evidence, you are not saying anything new.

Second of all: And I want to emphasize this…
What do you mean by:

coming is near

What does near mean… thats a very objective term, it can mean many things to different people, is it days? a week?, months, years, decades or centuries?

I like how doom preachers love to use vague and uncertain terms. You guys are starting to sound like Tom Ridge from Homeland secruity, are we going to have color coded days for when Doom is imminent too?

And what makes it better, is God is supposed to live in a timless state! Ha, go figure out what near is for him!

you cant have faith but still need the facts to prove it. that’s why it’s called faith

I agree with you, but we can’t be ignorant either. God gave us brains and science for a reason too.

47

Hahaha… That’d be useful.

Here’s the thing about religion, there are quite a few! Let’s say it’s 50/50 that God exists or doesn’t. And atheist has a greater chance at being right than any religious person, because they would have to choose one religion, and the odds are that it’s the “truth” are much lower than 50%… This is simple probability.

Let’s take Christianity. The only shred of proof for it is a book. The bible not only has several translations, but it has also been picked apart piece by piece. Any Christian scholar can tell you (for example) that the book of second Peter was most likely not written by the same person who wrote the book of Peter. And Moses definitely did not write the Pentateuch… the dates don’t match up.

Anywho, one could go on for ages… Not to mention the fact that other religions would contradict what the Bible says. How can those religions be dismissed?

All in all, even supposing that there is one true religion, and that religion is practiced on earth, the odds in choosing the “right” one are very slim. If it’s Christianity… what branch? The fact is, most people “choose” their religion based on their family, their culture and their setting. I ask this to the Christians posting here: Would you be a Christian had you been born in Egypt to Muslim parents? Though it is just speculation, I HIGHLY doubt it.

What’s the point in choosing a religion, following it’s crooked, dubious text, submitting to it’s questionable demands and praising it’s shady god/gods.

I prefer to believe that I could smite the Canenites without God’s assistance thank you very much.

48

*[color=black][font=Verdana]

[color=black][font=Verdana]1…we’re in the last church age… the church of laodecia…there are 7 churches…this is the last one… (will go more into that if anyone wants to know later)…[/font][/color]
[/font][/color]*
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]I don’t recall having heard anything about that… I know I have heard something about the Pope being the last one, when he dies the end is near.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Although I won’t believe a word of anything you type… I would still be interested in hearing it… It my be all fiction, but it is still apart of our history and so interesting.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]
*[color=black][font=Verdana]2. all major focus is geared towards the middle east…isreal…[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]jerusalem[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]…and the wars happening over there etc.[/font][/color]*
[/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]Ummmm Oil ? If anything it shows there is no Christian God… Your God created us all, to be free to do as we please. Would he really want them all fighting amongst themselves ? Would he really want them crashing planes (9/11) and us going over there to kill them all ?[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]I think not…. Just more proof that there is no God.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]
[color=black][font=Verdana]3… so it’s natural for you to harden your heart and question everything i write.[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]**[/font][/color]

[/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]*I only question it because it is absoululy groundless. Everything you say come from the Bible, a book of fables written by men to scare people into being good, and killing under the name of the Lord. Care to burn someone at the stake today ? [/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Care to lock someone up for saying the universe rotates around the Earth ?[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]**[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]

[color=black][font=Verdana]4. no u cant live a life of blasphamy and wait til the end to saye i’m sorry and repent[/font][/color]

[/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]Well they say all you have to do is ask and all will be forgiven. Priest should be the most scared of all considering how strongly they believe in God.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]And what do they do ? Molest, Molest, ask a fellow priest for forgiveness and then go about Molesting some more…. If they can do it so can I ![/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Although I guess it will be hard to have a lawyer defend me, since they are all in hell. :slight_smile:[/font][/color]
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[color=black][font=Verdana]God sent jesus to feel everything we feel as humans so he know how it feels to be down…depressed…sad…happy…mad…lost…and of course pain… none of us have felt pain like jesus …and God made him go through this to take on all our wicked sins…and this is how we repay him[/font][/color]
[/font][/color]*
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Funny, if I had a son and tortured him just so he could feel pain…. I would be locked up for good.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]But your God has his only son tortured and killed, and he’s a great father… a great God…. I think not….[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]
[color=black][font=Verdana]…so instead u join with them so u dont have to worry any more…so in that sense u were scared of what will happen to you without the protection of these guys…[/font][/color]
[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Funny how you go on and on about being scared, about how bad the world is.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]Let my copy&paste something from above.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]I don’t waste my one and only life trying to appease non existent Gods because I am to weak to face reality.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Perhaps if you were not so weak, you would not be scared into believing that there is a God.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]You remind me of a suicide bomber.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]You believe because you are scared not to, scared of what will happen if you don’t. They blow themselves up because they believe it is holy and they will be repaid in their after life.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]I have know doubt, if you were born over there, exposed to Islam instead of Christianity, that you would be a suicide bomber ![/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]It’s a personality thing…….[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]
[color=black][font=Verdana]it’s the world u should be afraid and scared of not God…so when i say scared into it …think of it as u should be scared of what will happen to u if [/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]ur[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana] not with him…[/font][/color]
[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Oh……. We should be afraid of the world our God created for us to live in…. Nice God, to create a world where we have to live in fear.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]Once again, not a God I would want.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]And once again with the scared of what will happen if your not with him stuff….[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]It must be terrible to be you, live your whole life in fear of what’s going to happen to you if you don’t believe…. Once again, nice God…[/font][/color]
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*[color=black][font=Verdana]
[color=black][font=Verdana]guys i’m not here to argue with yall i’m only doin what God wants[/font][/color]

[/font][/color]*[color=black][font=Verdana]No ones arguing with you…… It’s debating with you…… It’s good to have another strong religious person here again.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana]Religion is always a fun topic because people are passionate about what they believe.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Our last religious preacher got Banned…… Not because he was religious, Kirupa is religious….[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]So bring it on Ramo_iteg, save this stray sheep’s soul. [/font][/color]

49

L.Lepiano

I loved your post,

“This is simple probability.”

Math’s… sweet sweet music that can’t be beat !

50

The fact is, most people “choose” their religion based on their family, their culture and their setting. I ask this to the Christians posting here: Would you be a Christian had you been born in Egypt to Muslim parents? Though it is just speculation, I HIGHLY doubt it.

I was always brought up as an aetheist (I think I spelt that wrong… shush). God was never mentioned throughout my life, I just always accepted it as a big pile of crap because I’d heard scientific explanations which I beleived more than some book. Then about two months ago completly from nowhere I just changed, suddenly beleived in God and decided to become a Christian. It’s weird… nothing changed in my life, it just… happened :S. If you had of told me three months ago that in three months I’d be a Christian I honestly would have pissed myself laughing at you. I think I just “seen the light” as they say, and again I say it was all just really weird…

I think theres a lot of crap in Christianity but I think the main point is to worship God, I don’t think it matter how you do it just as long as you have faith.

51

But what made you decide you believed in god? Reason’s above have given hard evidence that god just doesn’t make any sense, why do you now believe?

and btw, I was grown up as an aethiest as well, and see many scientific evidence against it in my life. However, people are always trying to convince me and it just doesn’t make any sense.

52

hmm, and why do you suddenly think any god exists?
friends that believe in god?!

and why do you think if there was an almighty super clever god, he would like the people to worship him?!
I mean he must have some serious problems concerning his ego if he needs the people he created to worship him?!

hmm, but don’t think too much about it.
like our math theacher said:
“Questions - the enermy of any religion”

53

To be honest I really have no idea what made me change. I used to do a lot of drugs, smoke a lot, swear a lot- you know the type of person, and one morning I just woke up n sorta went “I’m messin myself up here”. None of my friends are Christians, my gf isn’t a Christian, I don’t think I even know someone who is one lol. I always used to be strongly against the idea of a God but then I started thinking so why does everything happen. Everything is bound to happen for a reason. I don’t entirly agree with what the Bible says about “God created the world in seven days” or whatever, but I think it had to start somewhere. The earth apparently started because of the big bang because of matter building up, well where did all that matter come from?

54

I’ve been meaning to respond to this earlier, but things kept going off topic and I didn’t read everything about the whole scarring into Christianity and whether God is real or not since that is not what I was looking for.

About that scarring into Christianity thing anyway because it really bothers me. I am Catholic, but I do not give a second look for anyone else that is Christian unless they know what they are doing. Anyone that is part of a religon can be just as ignorant as someone who isn’t. Scarring someone into Christianity is something Christopher Columbus would do, and we know he didn’t do any good with that. If someone is going to become Christian then it is meant to be their choice.

Now let me tell you what I think my purpose in life as a Catholic is, and why I asked my first question. My purpose in life is to follow God and do what he wants. The main reason I do this is not to enter Heaven, because intentions like that are evil in the way I see it. My purpose in life is not to simply reward myself at the end, but to help others in the way that pleases God.

I understand that some atheists also want to help society, but for what purpose are you trying to improve the world? If an atheist believes that nothing happens after death, then why bother doing good things?

None of what I just wrote makes much sense to me so I hope this paragraph will. When I go to sleep I ask myself “Why do I do it? What keeps me going?” My answer always involves the will of God, but this is what I want to know. If I am an atheist, how do I answer those questions? And if I can’t find a reason for why I keep living, then why should I?

55

so you wanted to change your life, and crashed into religion.

accepted by society, seen as something better than drugs,… well the easy way.

but come on. If you still can’t explain the existance of a god, doesn’t that result a conflict?

be honest to yourself: DO you believe in the existance of a god, or do you just want to change your life to something good, and have a sense in life?

56

I used to do a lot of drugs, smoke a lot, swear a lot- you know the type of person, and one morning I just woke up n sorta went “I’m messin myself up here”.

So you decided that your life was going down the wrong path and you wanted to change it and needed help.

A. Religion

B. A 12 step program

So you do have a reason for now believing…

Personally I would have went with the 12 Step program, as you said there is to much rubbish in the Bible to believe it…

Oh but wait… The Bible is all that we have that tells us there is a God…

I guess you just have to pick and choose what parts you believe and what parts you think are rubbish.

Either way, if you feel your life needs changing and your willing to do something about it… Power to ya !

57

personally I went the 12 step program… well not exactly 12 steps, but something like that.

-I became vegetarian (something that is in my opinion much more useful that worshipping to god, even if you are religious)
-stopped playing computer games (not because they were evil, I just didn’t have enough time anymore)
-lost 8 kilos and got a six-pack (which is hidden at the moment under a one-pack again)

58

I did have a load of crap typed and was about to post it but I have an easier idea…

You asked me to prove the existance of God, well, can you prove that He doesn’t exist?

I can honestly say that I 100% beleive in God. My reason for becoming a Christian was never to better myself, until now thoughts of heaven and hell have never even really came into my head so thats not why I’m here. I supposed to an extent I do it for a purpose in life. If we were just to be born, live a crappy life and die again what would be the point in being here? I beleive that theres something more than that to life, I don’t know what it is, but that’s one of the main reasons for me being a Christian- to find that out.

59

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[color=black][font=Verdana]If an atheist believes that nothing happens after death, then why bother doing good things?[/font][/color]
[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Evolution…. = Altruistic behavior[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]If you help others you feel good about yourself, so you are more inclined to help than not. People who help others are more likely to have others help them.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]There is nothing special about, even dumb animals do it….[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]You need to stop looking past simple behaviorism for something magical and just accept you’re a product of evolution.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]
[color=black][font=Verdana]When I go to sleep I ask myself “Why do I do it? What keeps me going?” My answer always involves the will of God, but this is what I want to know. If I am an atheist, how do I answer those questions? And if I can’t find a reason for why I keep living, then why should I?[/font][/color]

[/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Evolution…. = Self preservation[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Once again, you must continue to live so that you can procreate…[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]If you’re dead you can’t and so you’re driven to survive.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Yeah once your have had your kids and looked after them you stay alive because you still have the drive of self preservation, and personal gratification what more do you need?[/font][/color]
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[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]****************[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]We should all be dying at 30…… We can procreate at 15’ish, raise our kids till they are 15ish….[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]If we were still living in caves we would be dead by 30’ish.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]When you look at it like that…[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Live till your old enough to have kids.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Live till your kids can make there own way.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Die.[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]The purpose of life is simple and obvious… to procreate……[/font][/color]
[color=black][font=Verdana][/font][/color][color=black][font=Verdana]Why do you need something more than that? Why can’t you accept that you’re just an animal?[/font][/color]

60

You can’t prove something doesn’t exist. Can you prove that Aliens don’t exist? That Large Chocolate Bunnies Exist?

It’s a good thing you’ve decided that there is more to life than swearing and drugs, but with that being said. I know plenty of people who have found lots of meaning in their life and do lots of drugs and swear. I also know plenty of Christians who do lots of drugs and swear.

Do what you want with you life and live by a set of moral standards that do the best for the world as a whole. You don’t need a religious label to do that.