donathos said:
Speaking as an atheist (a fairly hardcore one), when I hear this sort of thing, I feel some sympathy. I believe that "purpose" can be individual, and I don't believe that a belief in God is required to have purpose in one's life, but I sympathize at least with the desire for a sense of purpose. If that were all that theism represented, frankly, I don't think that theists and atheists would have much contention between them. But theism, and whatever sense of purpose it provides, is usually associated with some type of dogma... and very often with political ends, as well. If theists were people who felt purposeful, but did not pronounce homosexuality immoral by divine authority, for instance, or legislate against the same, then perhaps atheists would still disagree on some level with the underlying belief in God, but I doubt that anyone would care much about the resulting difference. Beyond that, I wonder, if the purpose that a belief in God provides is beyond "just keeping our species alive," then what precisely is that divinely ordained purpose? Singing hosannas? |
Nailed it, that's a good way of putting it and pretty much how I see things.
Does there HAVE to be a higher purpose to it all? To imply there is diminishes our value and importance. Maybe the meaning of life is just to live. The value and purpose of life is simply for the individual to experience it.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden
