Atheists please answer?

Question

Doesn't it get sad to think that there's nothing after life? That there really isn't that much of a point to anything? I mean being happy in life and accomplishing your goals is great, but what is the purpose of living beings?

Answer 1

I'm not an Atheist but let me answer

Ok, so let's say there is a God, then why would that give everything meaning?  What's the point of God?  So just because there's a magical being floating around in some extra demension all of the sudden our lives all have deep meaning.  Ok, so maybe the universe as a whole would have meaning because something greater then itself put it here, but then God would have no meaning because nothing greater then himself created him.  OK so God makes meaning for himself, but then if God can have meaning, because he makes it for himself, then why can't we have meaning because WE make it for ourselves?

Answer 2

The purpose of living isn't to think of what happens after you do, or if you're good or bad you'll go to Heaven or h**l.

The purpose of living is to live for today, because that's all you have.

NO ONE can prove what happens after death, so we just live for today.

Personally, I like to believe in reincarnation.

Also, there is a huge point to everything.

Wanna know what it is? Take notes, it's important:

Life isn't about living for what will happen when you're dead, or to live up to the vision of God, it's about living for yourself and today. Because that's all you have. Religion means nothing.

Answer 3

it doesnt much matter. have fun while your here cuz ur just dust in the wind afterwards

Answer 4

i don't get sad, i just think of life as turns, when you live is your turn when you die you turn is over and some body Else's turn to begin. Im not sad of the after life because i know that I'm living it to the fullest and im enjoying my self. But what i believe that the porpuse of human beings is to live life and share their experiences both future and past with some one else, so basicaly my believe is that we are put her on this earth to live and enjoy life with someone else and then die.

Answer 5

How is that you see your life as pointless if there is no afterlife?  I think THAT is sad.  Friends, family, the world around you should be point enough for living.  Why live for something that may or may not be there?  I am not going to live my life according to a book that has many things in it that I greatly disagree with.  If I'm wrong, so be it, but I am not going to live against my heart for a prize that may be fantasy.  And a prize I may not want.  Frankly, if my prize is an afterlife with the likes of Jerry Falwell, I'll pass and take my chances.

Why, beyond the scientific reasons, are there living beings or life?  Who knows.  That's the great question that no one can answer, but I do think it is one of the things that contributed to the formation of religion.

Agnostic with Atheist Tendencies

Answer 6

Well make your life happy while you can.

Answer 7

Nup, it's not as bad as you think. it's just another belief. A belief in nothing. Some people should learn to respect other beliefs. Believing in god is something that some people do. It's ok if some body believes in something else, don't treat them as if they are bad or anything. and to answer question 2, it makes no difference who you are or what you believe. You can still do what other people do. Yes there is a purpose to life, it's just not as obvious to see. (Sorry if it's hard to understand, it's hard to write what your thoughts about a religion and stuff are)

Answer 8

you don't have to believe in the supernatural to find a reason to live. I feel sorry for anyone who believes they have to believe in god to live. Not to say I don't believe in a "god"

Answer 9

yes of course it does...for me anyways...there is still  point to everything..we try to have fun while were here..not  restricting our lives hoping that we can get into heaven...which alot of people believe exists but we dont know for sure..so all the time used for your faith could have been a waste .im not  aathiest im agnostic...i dont believe in heaven or anything like that but i dont refuse the fact that its possible...and  i dont disrespect people who do have a relgion cuz i was a christian for most of my life

Answer 10

not really  

Answer 11

The point of everything is to make the best of it.

If you require a fantasy about an afterlife in order to enjoy life, have a nice dream.

You're wasting your entire existence.

Answer 12

  Which is sadder?

   Person A makes enough money to pay his bills, buy a lottery ticket a week, and go out for dinner and a movie once a month. Knowing the odds of winning the lottery, person A talks about what he might do with a big win, but otherwise goes about working hard to improve his economic situation, so that he can travel a little and buy a bigger house.

  Person B makes the same amount of money as person A. But person B is certain that he is destined to hit the lottery. But only if he follows certain rules. So, he spends his dinner and movie money on more lottery tickets, and follows various other rules. Say, he has to sweep the sidewalk of his block every morning, only wear black socks, and cannot eat fruits after dark.

   Which of the two is living to the greater purpose? And supposing both die without winning, who has made the most of life?

   And what is the purpose of living? If there is an "ultimate purpose", we don't know what it is. It's up to each individual to decide for themselves what that purpose is, even if it does involve sweeping sidewalks...

Answer 13

Sure, it's a bit sad, but that doesn't make it less plausible. I was a believer once. I was promised eternal life. I lost my faith, and had to face mortality. I was young. Of course it was terrible to lose that comforting assurance. For a while, my goal was to become a scientist, and get around the aging process somehow. That didn't work out, and I'm more at peace with the thought of dying now anyway. The comfort of the grave, and the oblivion of nothingness even sounds pretty good sometimes. But really, I think that lacking the expectation of an afterlife can accentuate one's appreciation for this life. There is beauty to be seen and created, pleasure to be had, mysteries to ponder, things to strive for, your part to play in the story of the world. You want to know what's sad? People fighting and dying for their holy causes, secure in the knowledge that their earthly lives have no value compared to the afterlife which will surely be their reward. What a waste! Even worse than that, people thinking it's OK, or even desirable, to destroy the world, because that's God's plan anyway. Thanks for taking me down along with you! (not you specifically, but those people) It is hard to imagine not being, but wishing that something is so does not make it so.

As for purpose, living beings, rocks, and all the other objects in the universe have no innate purpose. Purpose is determined by whoever, or whatever (I'm including animals and everything else that has a mind.) decides to use the object in question. If one asks what is the purpose of this or that, it depends on who you ask. A rock's purpose might be to serve as a shotput, hold a door open, mark a finish line, or to an otter, it is for smashing the shell of a clam. Same deal with living beings. To his empoyer, a man's purpose might be to build houses, to his son, he might be protection, to a cat, a source of heat, or to a crocodile, a meal. Even something that is made, with an intended purpose, like a golf club, has no innate purpose; to someone in a life and death fight, it might be a weapon. The way our minds work, we're assigning purpose constantly to practically everything we see. Even things we don't see, we imagine things, inventions, that serve the purposes we desire. That is so typical of humans, it's how we've survived, dominated, became what we are today, and shaped the world into what it is today. No wonder it is hard for us to realize that the source of purpose is from within us rather than within the objects we see.

Answer 14

Yes, your point valid, but it seems applicable to god too:

What's the point of existence for god?  To create the world and us? To love us?  Why would the all mighty god do that?  It's his nature to do it?  So does he have a choice?  Yes, he does not have to love his creations but chooses to do so?

Then WHY?  It must have been a godly reason. O_o?

So why couldn't human beings made up their own reasons to live?

There you go.  We might not be as powerful in creating a physical world, but we could still imagine quite a bit with our mind, so why not use it?

Answer 15

Emotions are made by electricity and chemicals in the brain.  When you are dead all of these stop.  Thus you cannot feel sad or happy or anything.  At the same time, the human soul is made of energy.  Scientific law states that energy can neither be created or destroyed it can only change forms.  So when you die the energy that was your soul becomes what? Maybe thats the question.

Answer 16

I agree live for today because you never know what it will bring, and being atheist. Helps me because relying on someone that Is god that is suppose to help you but doesnt and when something amazing happen they say god does it? Well i am not waiting around for some fictional person to come and rescue me from my life. I choose to make my life better everyday. Instead of believing in a heaven in h**l i will make my heaven here on earth. Live by my rules and die with a smile on my face. What comes after that is still life isnt it not? If you still have brain function is that not life after death. So i guess dieing and living arent so different after all, but no matter what i will choose my path in life or life after death.

Answer 17

The purpose of living is "being" in mindful awareness demonstrated by generosity, loving kindness, compassion and caring towards all that exist in the present moment.

No supreme being is necessary.

Be well and be in harmony with the ki/energy of the universe.

Answer 18

Seeing someone smile or laugh because of something you did or said is an awesome feeling. True happiness is shared. It's just that simple. Life isn't about the fear, sadness or accomplishment of goals. Your whole life is based on the warmth that you feel from that one single smile.

Answer 19

GOD RULES!!!

atheists are JOKES!!

lmao

Answer 20

No, it doesn't make me sad to think there's no after life. It makes me cherish every minute I have here all the more. The only point or purpose in life is what you give it. I don't need a divine entity to have purpose and meaning in my life, nor do I need one to be happy.

Answer 21

(I'd like to prefeace this by saying that examples I use are completely general and shouldn't be taken to mean that I intend it toward all people who are religious. My opinions are just that- mine. Flaming isn't necessary and won't even be glanced at.)

I guess it's how you look at it. While I'm an atheist in the sense that I don't believe in God in the bible sense, I feel very spiritual in terms of being connected to something greater than myself and I'm fine with not knowing what it is or presuming to understand it.

I also don't claim that I'm right in my assumptions. I could very well be wrong and that's between me and God, not me and anyone else. I find people who are religious generally can't hear anything that is in opposition to their beliefs without getting belligerent. I understand that people want to stand by their faith, but sometimes the reaction is worse than anything. For instance, I'm against abortion, but it makes no sense to bomb an abortion clinic, killing 6 people and 3 unborn children in the name of... not killing people. that's obviously a drastic example of religious belief, but it's more common than you'd think.

I think the biggest complaint atheists have is that people who believe in God can't give us a chance to find God in our *own* way--- they often try to force it on us when we aren't ready or simply don't want it. And that force comes in a lot of packages, some of which are dangerous, rude and in some cases, completely against God or the teachings of Jesus Christ.

i think being an atheist is a great thing because it forces us to live our lives to the fullest everyday because we feel that this is really IT-- this short time is all we have. There is no 'fall back'. It IS very scary to think that there isn't a God or parent figure up there to welcome us and take care of us and wipe away all the bad things. But I think it's also wonderful to know that, yes, we need to be responsible for our own lives and not leave it up to God to 'make it better'. That fear of being alone dissipates when you think about how special you really are.

There's a greater sense of specialness to being an individual when you're an atheist; that against all odds you were the one who was born into the world to live a very short life and to see what you can do with it. and then it's over. that was your chance... and you were amazing.

A lot of times, people who believe in an afterlife or in God do things because of their God, rather than for the good of mankind, their families or society.

You also have people who use God as an excuse to do horrible things to themselves or others. There are a lot of people who use God as an excuse to hate g*y people, for instance.This guy I work with is insane about it and always points to the bible as his backup. However, he doesn't live his life according to the bible in any other way, leading me to believe it's that he simply doesn't like g*y people. He finds it gross and doesn't want to see it. And that's fine. But it becomes dangerous when religion is brought into the argument because, then, anyone who doesn't like someone can find a reason to hate them by misinterpreting or not logically thinking about bible passages. Sure, the bible claims homosexuality is wrong.... it also claims that we should be stoned if we wear clothes made of 2 different threads, should be punished for planting 2 different crops side by side, that bunnies, vegetable gardens and touching pigskin (such as a football, eating bacon, etc) are evil (Leviticus 11:7), that we should be allowed to sell our children into slavery (exodus 21:7) and that working on the sabbath is punishable by death (exodus 35:2) ... the list goes on. but interestingly enough, people only point out and continue to live by the homosexuality clause in Exodus. You've got to admit how that can be seen as simply using something to your advantage rather than truly believing in the teachings. It's also in how people are brought up... if your parents were deeply religious, often their children are without even understanding why. It's just because that's how they were taught.

As an atheist, you can't use anything as an excuse for your actions other than mental illness.

Also, many people put off living their lives at all. My grandmother never did anything with her life, not because she couldn't, but because she was a miserable person who believed very deeply that the rapture is coming any day. i don't want to minimalize your beliefs at all, but she wasted her life spending sometimes up to 4 hours a day in prayer, asking god to forgive her sins and choosing which bible passages to adhere to and which ones to overlook whenever she simply felt like it.

To me, her biggest sin was that she wasted her life and was horrible to her family on top of being completely hypocritical.

And you should know that not all atheists believe that there's nothing after life. I think atheists are often boxed into a corner by people who simply refuse to listen and hear what we're saying. just because i don't believe in man's version of god or in the bible doesn't mean that i don't believe we're more than simply an accident that happened. Many, many non-religious people are simply that: NON-RELIGIOUS. We're against organized religion where there is a flawed or corruptible PERSON in charge. the catholic church-- and many other religious denominations-- are money-making businesses, make no mistake. They often do good in small settings, and usually with the help of the community in contributions and time. But I happen to think, for example, it's interesting that a cardinal or pope can claim how much they want to help the poor while at the same time wearing rings that cost upwards or 20 thousand dollars. one of those rings could build a water system in a 3rd world country, you know what I mean?

Most of all, I don't believe that belief in God should be forced on anyone. It God's job to make himself known to us, not MAN's. No man can know God's will and how dare anyone who claims to. What presumption!

If there really is a God-- which there could be-- I'd like to think that he doesn't need anyone's help to make himself known. Besides, it's supposed to be all about faith, isn't it?

Answer 22

It's only sad because we've been indoctrinated into thinking there's more. Once we get past this basic brain washing, it's not sad at all. It's kind of like asking aren't you sad that you won't be getting any more presents from Santa now that you don't believe in him?

On another note, how exactly does one "enjoy" eternity? The things that we enjoy are enjoyed because they are temporary. There is nothing that, when perpetuated continually, is enjoyable.

Answer 23

Let's assume the space-time universe is real.

We are then  products of that universe, not of some miraculous supposed creation by namely deities.

What do we gain?

1. Unlike religionists, we belong here.

2. Unlike religionists, we are allowed to learn how to think realistically.

3. Unlike religionists, we define morality as "doing what works in reality".

4. Unlike religionists, we are able to comprehend and act perfectly here.

5. Unlike religionists, our ethics involve preparing people by education (categorical training in how to think) for selfhood, friendly cooperation and marketplaces of ideas, actions and creations.

6. Unlike religionists we are capable of living happily by doing the right things most of the time, breaking all major addictions and applying definitions of the prioritized 5--6 internal real working essentials of anything.

  So--we don't need a "Redeemer", we're not "immoral" for living on Earth, we're capable of realism, success, happiness and cooperation--unlike true religionists who must join monasteries to live free of earthly contamination and  practice what they preach sufficiently to achieve not happiness but at least minimal satisfaction.

  And the best minds like mine can think rings around people who can't be realistic--reality space-time -based, by definition.

  As for any life to come: if there is such a place, I expect to be high in the officer corps of the place, because what I and others like me, the realists, even the sane and brilliant, have suffered from pseudo-

religious worldly interferers, gatekeeper tsars, tyrannical bosses and

purveyors of bad and impossible ideas.

Thanks for asking.