Atheist why live?

Malari

m@cc@ wrote: »

Ignoring the obvious undertone of this question, the 'goal' of an athiest should already be achieved when they die in that they have lived a fulfilling life.

If they even have a goal at all. I don't think I have ever thought about what the goal of my life is. It is probably largely useless. But I enjoy it and I'm not doing any harm to anybody else in the mean time, so why worry?

I love, I enjoy learning, I read, I play sport, I go for lunch with friends and talk about inconsequential things ad nauseum, I travel...I could die tomorrow and I may not have achieved any "goal" but what would it matter? The other undertone of this question is that life has a purpose. It doesn't. It's serendipitous. So just live the way you like to live, or deal with the consequences of society.

m@cc@

What makes me laugh is the Christians trying to convince me that it's more important to believe in God than to be a good and moral person. If that's the requirement for getting into 'heaven' then I have no interest in appeasing an egotist.

Goduznt Xzst

*rubs forehead* this thread made my head hurt. I imagine the OP was sitting there pondering what they'd like to be doing for their 1 billionth birthday when they suddenly came upon this epiphany as to why Atheism is meaningless.

His responses really do read like a troll, or better yet, a Tireless Rebutter

For me though, I think Rudyard Kipling said it best: If

Dades

Goduznt Xzst wrote: »

His responses really do read like a troll, or better yet, a Tireless Rebutter

Well he's in his element then, with all the atheists here.

m@cc@

I don't know if I'm even a atheist, it's seems too organised. Is there a term for 'couldn't give a toss eitherway'?

Goduznt Xzst

m@cc@ wrote: »

I don't know if I'm even a atheist, it's seems too organised. Is there a term for 'couldn't give a toss eitherway'?

You are confusing the term Atheism with some form of organization. View it more like a nationality. There are Irish people that like to be organized and argue about what their nationality means. There are also people who don't give a toss about what their nationality means. Are those people any less Irish?

Basically if you accept that Deities don't exist then you are Atheist, all the other characteristics you see from Atheists are just for sh!ts and giggles.

AtomicHorror

m@cc@ wrote: »

I don't know if I'm even a atheist, it's seems too organised. Is there a term for 'couldn't give a toss eitherway'?

I think that falls under the blanket of agnostic. Someone will be along to correct me at length shortly.

Dades

I'm sure they will... but I couldn't be arsed at 5pm on a Monday!

Actually see this thread.

Esel

Is this the OP?

Gordon

S_Truth wrote: »

any lifestyle you choose to lives is useless. And the reason why its useless because you die and are buried or cremated. To say I live for the now is pointless because even the now is useless.

Friend. I am here for you, do not make any hasty decisions, this world is beautiful, everything and more is telling you that it is beautiful. You are beautiful, do not believe what anything and more is telling you, because it is said and stated thus and now, you are beautiful, you are useful, you are everything, just like everything and more else is.

Everything would be unhappy if everything else did not exist, therefore everything is useful, therefore you are useful too, so please, friend, do not do what you have been thinking, stay with us and learn from us because you have much to do. Just open your eyes, and drink the world with your senses, it is time now for you to live.

If chance is to chance upon you I wish it will be good chance.

AtomicHorror

esel wrote: »

Is this the OP?

Breed loopy and ferrous cranus together and I think you have our boy. You also get everyone's favourite Creationist.

DanCorb

I believe the poster is missing an important point: Just because something is desirable doesn't make it true.

Let's say that the atheist life is a pointless, meaningless existence (which I disagree with completely, but shall not aruge in this post) which just ends at death and that's it. Well, there is no evidence to the contrary. There is no evidence of your god or any god or an afterlife.

Just because you don't like the image of life as an atheist, that doesn't mean that your god suddenly exists. Even if something looks bleak and depressing, you still have to accept the facts and evidence as a rational thinker.

marco_polo

DanCorb wrote: »

I believe the poster is missing an important point: Just because something is desirable doesn't make it true.

Let's say that the atheist life is a pointless, meaningless existence (which I disagree with completely, but shall not aruge in this post) which just ends at death and that's it. Well, there is no evidence to the contrary. There is no evidence of your god or any god or an afterlife.

Just because you don't like the image of life as an atheist, that doesn't mean that your god suddenly exists. Even if something looks bleak and depressing, you still have to accept the facts and evidence as a rational thinker.

I was thinking something similar the other day, too lazy to reply to the OP though.

The Geist

I think the notion that we get to go to heaven for eternity (this is a long frickin time people), just for living a lifetime of on average of 70 years is a ridiculous notion. Its like being paid one hundred billion euros for washing someones car, it doesn`t make any sense.

jill_valentine

I wish I could be washing that car.

Galvasean

AtomicHorror wrote: »

Breed loopy and ferrous cranus together and I think you have our boy. You also get everyone's favourite Creationist.

Oh that... guy..... :pac::D:pac::eek::eek::D:D:pac:

condra

S_Truth if you want to be taken seriously, you should learn about grammar, punctuation etc.

Also, if you can present your points in a way that doesn't make it appearant that you are a deranged psychopath, that would be half the battle.

robindch

The Geist wrote: »

I think the notion that we get to go to heaven for eternity [...] is a ridiculous notion. [...] it doesn`t make any sense.

Doesn't have to make any sense. It just has to be convincing.

The Geist

I think the fact that there might not be an afterlife is more of an incentive to make the most out of the life we have now, instead of living in hope that there is something better waiting on the other side. That there might not be a god or heaven does not depress me, but makes me more aware of how precious our time is and that every moment we have should not be wasted.

rockbeer

Why die?

If living and dying are equally pointless*, as I believe they are, what is the value of dying over living?

You also make the mistake that thinking that belief or unbelief make a difference to the outcome. The fact is that there either is an afterlife or their isn't. The truth about this is equally true for all of us, whatever our beliefs so if we are right your life will have been equally as pointless as ours. And in the highly unlikely event of you turning out to be right, our lives will have proved to be just as meaningful as yours despite our unbelief. We stand to gain all the 'benefits' of your afterlife, scepticism notwithstanding.

* Pointless in the grand cosmic scheme of things. There are obviously real-world, here-and-now points to life such as having fun, making the world a better place and watching The Simpsons.

Zillah

http://xkcd.com/220/

Zombrex

rockbeer wrote: »

Why die?

exactly .. me life doesn't get any less pointless because I kill meself :pac:

EamonnKeane

S_Truth wrote: »

My question to an atheist is: What is the end goal of an atheist who lives a good moral life?

Ah, so as a religious man you have your eye on the reward? Like a politician driving an old dear to the hospital, thinking of her 40 grandchildren and their lovely votes.

Good is an end in itself. So are happiness and pleasure. All is fleeting - do you think our society has an end purpose? Does history? Do rabbits?

silversurfer

What is the end goal of an atheist who lives a good moral life?
The end goal is to live, love, protect your loved ones and as any organisim, to perpertuate your species, and where possible protect your progeny.
A good moral life is a fantastic aim, if you're an atheist, then this is without a religious belief system and a therefore with a system, hopefully, based on right and wrong and then the goals will end up being fairly similar to most religious people.
Religion is a belief system based on faith, on something that is not proveable (hence the faith) Athesist's disbelieve in a religious figure or belief system, and go without a defined religious belief system in their lives.
Honestly, to ask the question 'What is the end goal of an atheist who lives a good moral life?' is to ask what a religious person's end goal is, minus the resgious aspect or belief system.
The religious persons Goal is Heaven or similar, the Atheist's is a continuance of their line, their only difference is a refusal to beieve in a religious nature/ side of their existance and not to expect a religious afterlife

Nymph

To have lived my life happily and to have lived it well in my own eyes.

Dave!

Deleted User wrote: »

The reason, I believe, that an atheist would choose to live a moral life, is simply because, while you, S_Truth, believe your life has consequence when you die, others believe their life has consequence while they are still alive, that is to say, why would they want to hurt another person, when, if they are still alive tomorrow, they will have to face that person, you may have 80 years of life to live, why would you choose to live each of those days immorally - resulting only in people around you hating you and being unahppy, that would not be life, life is for living, not for dying.

So, to answer your question, I believe that Atheists live for the people who they can see around them, who help them, who love them, and not for some unknown being that "might" be there when they die, judging them on every day of their happy lives.

Just saw this post, I think it's excellent

S_Truth

Originally Posted by Deleted User
The reason, I believe, that an atheist would choose to live a moral life, is simply because, while you, S_Truth, believe your life has consequence when you die, others believe their life has consequence while they are still alive, that is to say, why would they want to hurt another person, when, if they are still alive tomorrow, they will have to face that person, you may have 80 years of life to live, why would you choose to live each of those days immorally - resulting only in people around you hating you and being unahppy, that would not be life, life is for living, not for dying.

So, to answer your question, I believe that Atheists live for the people who they can see around them, who help them, who love them, and not for some unknown being that "might" be there when they die, judging them on every day of their happy lives.

You have made the assumption that I believe my life only has consequence in the after life. But that's not true, I will face consequence here as well.

Why would you be unhappy if some human being hates you. That human being is a nobody, just like you. How do you know this world is not just an illision. Just because you can feel, see, taste, ear, and smell things don't make them apart of reality or make this world reality. You assume this is reality because that is the best you can do or in this case majority of the world. In other words you have not acheived the highest consciousness.

What's the point of loving something that will die at end. All people do is cry after someone passes away. Reality is we already knew the person will die so why cry when they leave?

who help them, who love them, and not for some unknown being that "might" be there when they die, judging them on every day of their happy lives.

Your happiness is an illusion, its not reality. You like everyone else on this planet are living a long dream, unless you have realized the higher consciousness.

I'm not trying to put anyone down here, but trying to show you that what you precieve as reality is not reality, but illusion.

ah yes, the world in which we live in is an illusion!

And not the world in which we have never see, been to, have any proof of have merely read about in a book.

Makes perfect sense.....no...... honestly :rolleyes:

S_Truth

Deleted User wrote: »

ah yes, the world in which we live in is an illusion!

And not the world in which we have never see, been to, have any proof of have merely read about in a book.

Makes perfect sense.....no...... honestly :rolleyes:

Well then explain how it's not an illusion?

AtomicHorror

S_Truth wrote: »

Well then explain how it's not an illusion?

The burden of proof is not really on whoopsadaisydoodles. You're the one making the extraordinary claim here, so you need to provide evidence.

How is the world not an illusion? Does it matter? How about because it feels entirely real and we're unable to dismiss it? From anyone's perspective, what's the difference between a world that is entirely real and one that merely seems entirely real? How could you determine the difference?

Our happiness, along with the rest of our emotions may be real or false. The difference is irrelevant since we have no means to discern. Those feelings are the basis of our values, and thus inform our morality and our meaning. The consequences of our actions feed back into that system and thus we seek to build a moral framework and act in a manner which makes us happy in the long term. As most humans have a strong need for social contact, a part of that moral framework usually includes altruism.