That's your biggest mistake, thinking they are interested in using rational logic to explain their view point. Typically, they will say God created the world and man kind and bible is the proof of that.:grin:
Wasn't raised in church nor was my family really followers of any religion. We would casually go to a Sunday service but it was more random than often. Religion just doesn't cut it for me. It's not enough for me. I can't fathom the idea of telling God thanks or praying asking for favors while others get the short end of the stick. Thanking God for anything is probably the most selfish thing someone could do, in my opinion. What about the others who don't get what they prayed for or end up facing circumstances they didn't deserve, while you're over here sitting pretty thanking God for your fortunes. Nah, I'm good. I just call it luck. Or lack thereof.
Baptised and confirmed Episcopalian and went to a pretty easy-going church which formed a pretty solid core of friends, but mom switched to Assembly of God and TBN right around the divorce; also started slandering dad pretty aggressively and got progressively more abusive to him and fairly petty with us, so just got very cynical about the correlation between religiosity and ethics fairly quickly. Still believe organized clergy was the backbone for liberal arts education and bureaucratic government, though.
Atheistic agnostics... the point is there is no evidence for or against so the only logical position is "I don't know". That's the comfort of religion; the lack of information is so untenable to our problem solving brains that we are inclined to replace the unknowable with myth. The faith that the myths are true, that we don't really face death, that life has meaning and a plan spackles over the crippling doubt. If I could, I would choose to find peace in a rocking hymn singing, amen shouting black church. I think it would be jubilant. But my brain won't do it. ( I think partly because I have never faced hardship or desperation)
I was raised Roman Catholic. I became an agnostic atheist after learning the true depths of the exploitation of African people during the colonization of the African continent and during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Without going into too much detail I figured one of two things had to be true: 1) Yaweh doesn't actually exist Or even worse 2) Yaweh stood idly by in the same rooms, ships and castles, in which my people were abused and did absolutely nothing. Inaction in the face of an atrocity is to be complicit IMHO. Praising a god that doesn't exist is pointless and worshipping one that watched you suffer yet did nothing is simply foolish.
I used to ride to Lakewood Church on Sundays IN A LIMO. A neighbor of ours owned a couple of limos. I thought it was cool. That was probably what made me think organized religion is a sham, though. Brought up in and around Baptist churches. I just don't see any evidence to support it. I don't knock anyone that does, whatever God that may be, but it's not for me. I am an excellent person, and every day I live my life to my own credo, which is to show everyone around me respect and kindness, and basically live by the golden rule.
What is the meaning of your skin cell's life? It can die, so thus it is also alive. In an evolutionary sense, as a species it is to procreate. Individually, we are already too successful, thus it is no longer an imperative. I mean a better question would be who created the material for a big bang, as that at least could lead to existential questions, but meaning of life is absurd as some kind of gotcha question.
Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates. He wasn't terribly religious, wrote a great deal on the meaning of life, and...logic. I took personal offense when Cory Booker railed against "cynics" in his stump speech for Clinton, but here you go: -- Cynicism (Greek: κυνισμός) is a school of Ancient Greek philosophy as practiced by the Cynics (Greek: Κυνικοί, Latin: Cynici). For the Cynics, the purpose of life was to live in virtue, in agreement with nature. As reasoning creatures, people could gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which was natural for themselves, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, sex and fame. -- So now you know what to do with your life, bigtexx. The truth has been revealed to you
I don't see how "living with virtue" is a purpose, it just seems like an ethical philosophical path. I guess entertaining God would be a purpose. Easing the suffering of mortals would be a purpose. Experiencing the universe could be a purpose; even at that though you could ask what the ending goal is.
There are many purposes in life and everyone has to find their own path that you feel gives your life importance and purpose... but from a biological level... The purpose of life is the circle of life. Every living thing lives. Every living thing dies. To continue that circle there must be reproduction, without it there will be no more life. I've also condensed the 1̶5̶ 10 commandments down to two. 1. Always do your best. 2. Always do what is right. Those are the rules my kids and I live by. I won't even pass the plate at the end of this post.
Atheist, please remember your post in this thread. It will be much more relevant than you can ever imagine one day.
I don't see how inserting God into the picture really settles the problem of an ending goal, if we wish to think of it as a problem. One can always ask "But why?", and even a theist will ultimately have to fall back to "Because it is so" at some point.
https://youtu.be/F41V0OylFXE I suck and can't embed video, here's some Preacher to add to the debate.
You can click on "Share" under the video, and then the Embed tab. Copy the html code in the box (should already be highlighted) and then just paste it directly into your post. The html code will look like this: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F41V0OylFXE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> But it will show up as this in your post: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F41V0OylFXE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Cool - Joel is a friend of mine - like him as a person - don't like religion. Played basketball with Joel for years at the YMCA, we had some fun together before his father died and he took over, he is a genuinely great guy. DD
Virtue is the best English can do for arete. It's more of a kind of personal excellence, and more importantly, this kind of noble excellence (according to Antisthenes) can be taught. He would counter that an "ethical philosophical path" would be absolutely essential to living a life of any purpose whatsoever.
I've struggled long and hard with religion, but even if it's not really for me, I try to take wisdom from its teachings and open my ear for people of faith. I consider myself a lucky individual, but can't seem view that luck is a sign of a higher fate or purpose that I'm supposed to walk along. Too much injustice and misery in the world that neither believers nor non-believers have the will to resolve. The human condition is a definite work in progress.
