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 Jeers
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 Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? 
#25672076 - 12/11/18 10:53 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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The post subject line pretty much speaks for itself. I feel like atheists rarely ask themselves this important question - and I've yet to hear a compelling answer from a secular point of view.
I've read takes from the likes of Sam Harris and Dawkins, etc...but their answers are so unsatisfactory to me. In the end, all of our joy and suffering mean nothing to the cold indifference of the universe. And life will eventually end with the heat death of the universe. So how can life have any meaning if our very existence is just a cosmic coincidence that is destined to end in death?
And perhaps a second related question - if you accept that life has no objective meaning or purpose, is it possible to still live a good life with that depressing notion in the back of your mind?
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JizzMasterZero
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Jeers]
#25672165 - 12/11/18 11:20 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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In the grand universal scheme of things, I admit that my life has the same amount of meaning as that of other inhabitants of earth. If we are all Gods creatures (or not) then why would human lives be destined to have some greater cosmic meaning and the others not?
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Duncan Rowhl
Fiducia Christum
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Posts: 2,659
Loc: UK 
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: JizzMasterZero]
#25672706 - 12/11/18 03:55 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Dick Dawkins will leave any half educated person dissatisfied.
Many might put the proposition forward that life simply wouldn’t be without a God, since life represents a creation of that,’force’.
The same demographic might suggest that life hold a seeming condition of chaos to stand as a challenge to test the creativity of those creations for the sake of maturity and growth.
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Deemstar
Doctor Deemstar
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Duncan Rowhl] 1
#25672717 - 12/11/18 04:00 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Fuck around and find out.
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Gnome-miii-odd
JAH!!! Pasta-far-eye!
R.I.P. Georgie poor G
A.K.A. Jorgon Lucy
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Duncan Rowhl
Fiducia Christum
Registered: 10/08/12
Posts: 2,659
Loc: UK
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Deemstar]
#25672718 - 12/11/18 04:02 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Deemstar said:
Fuck around and find out.
But what does this mean?
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Cjmckay
Registered: 04/09/18
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 Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Duncan Rowhl]
#25672740 - 12/11/18 04:10 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Monty Python- The Meaning of Life. They kinda summed it up.
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Duncan Rowhl
Fiducia Christum
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Loc: UK
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Cjmckay]
#25672746 - 12/11/18 04:12 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Cjmckay said:
Monty Python- The Meaning of Life. They kinda summed it up.
How so?
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Cjmckay
Registered: 04/09/18
Posts: 387
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Duncan Rowhl]
#25672856 - 12/11/18 04:55 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Duncan Rowhl said:
Quote:
Cjmckay said:
Monty Python- The Meaning of Life. They kinda summed it up.
How so?
A little musical number at the end of the movie.
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 ChRnZN
Din of Doom
Registered: 12/21/08
Posts: 6,265
Loc: ADK
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Jeers]
#25673151 - 12/11/18 07:30 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Eh, you know, self discovery and shit.
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beforethedawn
Registered: 06/19/16
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: ChRnZN]
#25673345 - 12/11/18 09:22 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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What is alone is.
The world is a wilderness in the present, a trap in time.
Be present and stay there.
You think you're going to die right?
Well how long have you got? Better start now.
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Hostile humankind
Can't you see you're fucking blind?
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Asante
Omnicyclion prophet
Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 87,330
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: beforethedawn] 1
#25673731 - 12/12/18 05:42 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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There must be a God, if you define God as the Sum of All Things.
Part of all things is consciousness, even on the fundamental level, so voila akbar!
Imagine there was no God, but you helped old ladies cross the street, gave away bagels to homeless people, your visits were the light of the old folks home and you were a great husband to your wife great father and rolemodel to your kids and dog and at the heart of your coircle of friends and collegues at work where you do meaningful work.
Isnt that meaningful enough?
A few years back this kid, 17yo, announced his suicide by jumping off a high building that week. Ythan got his info, I contacvted his father at work, who rushed home, found the suicide note written in his sons drawer, they went in family therapy, and half a year on all issues were sorted.
This kid, now in his 20s. is alive thanks to Ythan and myself.
Isnt that, in itself, enough?
"He who saves one life saves the world entirely." - so we did 
Life is meaningful if you MAKE it meaningful.
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Omnicyclion.org
higher knowledge starts here
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Cjmckay
Registered: 04/09/18
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Asante]
#25673911 - 12/12/18 08:02 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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What would be the meaning of life if there was a GOd?
Does having some grand imaginary structure help?
I guess having the community that comes of it can help.
Except for the dogma, manipulation, wars, cult behavior, etc.
I just think if there was a god that wanted to be "believed in", he would make his intentions clearer.
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Jeers
Stranger
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Cjmckay]
#25674196 - 12/12/18 10:44 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yes, we can manufacture *subjective* meaning in life, with or without God. But without God, there is no *ultimate* or objective meaning.
Think of it this way... You can tell if a watch is good by how accurately it tells the time. Meaning, you need to know an object's purpose in order to determine if it's any good.
How can we tell if we've lived a good life if we don't know our purpose? And how can we have a purpose if we are nothing more than the accidental byproduct of matter plus time plus chance? If our very existence is the result of cosmic coincidence, there is no objective purpose to our lives. Without an objective purpose, it is impossible to tell if we've lived a good life.
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Duncan Rowhl
Fiducia Christum
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Jeers]
#25674253 - 12/12/18 11:06 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jeers said:
Think of it this way... You can tell if a watch is good by how accurately it tells the time. Meaning, you need to know an object's purpose in order to determine if it's any good.
If a watch keeps good time, it is only good in the context of keeping time.
Many people know the purpose of a watch, but they compromise, accepting time loss as a given sacrifice for another context of quality.
Quote:
Jeers said:
How can we tell if we've lived a good life if we don't know our purpose?
Knowing one's purpose isn't necessary to feel authentic self-satisfaction - which is the only measure one needs to make a judge their life.
The 'goodness' of one's life, therefore, is as subjective and contextual as the 'goodness' of the watch... 
Edited by Duncan Rowhl (12/12/18 11:20 AM)
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littleton
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Posts: 440
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Duncan Rowhl]
#25677755 - 12/13/18 08:12 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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God is meaning of life.
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OrangeJ
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Jeers]
#25677942 - 12/13/18 10:29 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think people can experience meaning even if they don't believe in God (if "meaning" and "God" are defined the way I think they are). People can experience meaning by applying themselves to a cause that they see as good.
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Duncan Rowhl
Fiducia Christum
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: OrangeJ]
#25680715 - 12/15/18 11:45 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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People create their own meaning, for that is the fundamental point of creation.
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Deadfrancis
I am you
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Duncan Rowhl]
#25681888 - 12/15/18 09:37 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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life is here for fun. if youre not having fun, then kill yourself and try again.
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Eclipse3130
Servant of the Fungi
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Deadfrancis]
#25682345 - 12/16/18 07:14 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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To answer title question simply.. yes your the one who gives your life meaning, you create it and your purpose.
Nothing and nobody is going to give your life meaning, besides you. You design your purpose, and you are also the One who determines if you have lived a good life or not.
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"In The Material World One seeks retirement and grows Old
In The Magical World One seeks Enlightenment and grows Wiser
In The Miraculous World One seeks nothing and grows Lighter
As we all tread the Homeward Path we will explore many Realms
And one day... we will all Realize that all experiences are Simply
Different ways in which The
All-That Is
Perceives Itself"
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Deemstar
Doctor Deemstar
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Re: Can Life Have Meaning If There Is No God? [Re: Eclipse3130]
#25682533 - 12/16/18 08:50 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Can God have meaning if there is no life?
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Gnome-miii-odd
JAH!!! Pasta-far-eye!
R.I.P. Georgie poor G
A.K.A. Jorgon Lucy
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