Question for Atheists

[CleverCalvert]

With the exception of what is the purpose of life (which I feel is to reproduce and continue said life) your desire sounds much like mine to learn and observe how we got here and where we are heading. I'm an atheist. what are you?

[DarkHorse]

Its amazing to me that you don't find that answer to be the most depressing possible answer.

Your purpose is to do the will of another - AKA - your purpose is to be a totally obedient slave (unless of course God has you on salary for this service).

Actually it's the most fufilling answer - doing the will of the creator, knowing that you'll be with him for eternity. I see that as much less depressing than living life trying to please myself and never being able to accomplish that. Then I fade away and die with no memory of what I've been able to accomplish. You can't even enjoy the memories of your life here.
By the way, I refer to God as "he" because the writers of the bible referred to him in the masculine gender. He/She has no gender, but is spirit.

Totally depressing!

[shep]

Lek, you do realize what you want to have and what is are two completely different things, right? for example, i may have a secret fantasy of swimming through a multi colored ocean of skittles with rainbows,smiles and naked nymphs, doesn't mean it actually exists.

You want to believe in this Neverending story, but the truth is its a load of bullshit. The universe doesnt care what you want.

[fr0d0]

And therein lies the answer.

(Envisioning God has a noticeable effect on reality)

Does it? Explain.

Yes.

How you understand reality determines you're take on it.

If you understood that love underpinned the workings of reality, and someone else understood that nothingness underpinned it... would the perceived realities be different?

Both individuals should be equal in all ways: sceptical, rational etc..

[Lek]

With the exception of what is the purpose of life (which I feel is to reproduce and continue said life) your desire sounds much like mine to learn and observe how we got here and where we are heading. I'm an atheist. what are you?

If it's me you're asking, I'm a Christian.

[Mr Greene]

14 pages in, and I'm still interested to know why Lek thinks science isn't a good avenue for exploring "why" the universe exists (I'm hoping this means "how"). I'd also like to know why he's uncomfortable creating his own meaning/purpose.

When I talk about "why" the universe exists, I don't mean "how". I'm talking about the reason and purpose for us and everything else. If an infinite, thinking being created everything then he would have a reason for creating the universe. Though I'm not sure of the reason, I could say that I and the universe are here because God wanted it and my purpose here is to do his will. I have trouble envisioning a universe that is just here for no reason - it just is and that's all. Some ask "if there is a God why does he allow all the suffering.?" I ask "if there is no God why are we here suffering?" I view science as a vehicle for discovering how the universe operates, but not why. Those are some of the thoughts behind my original question.

Ok we'll go with line of reasoning. Put yourself in the position of an entity that creates a universe. Why would you have done that? What exactly does the Universe actually do? What function does it fulfill?

[Lek]

Actually it's the most fufilling answer - doing the will of the creator, knowing that you'll be with him for eternity. I see that as much less depressing than living life trying to please myself and never being able to accomplish that. Then I fade away and die with no memory of what I've been able to accomplish. You can't even enjoy the memories of your life here.
By the way, I refer to God as "he" because the writers of the bible referred to him in the masculine gender. He/She has no gender, but is spirit.

I'm just going to say this, and walk away: eternity, by definition, is enough time for you to grow completely sick of god's company, to grow to hate him, and then to become so utterly bored that you long for your death, his death, or ideally, both.

That's the end result of all this. You'll just go on and on until you've experienced everything enough times to grow so bored of it all that reality itself becomes a Groundhog Day style torture.

Your afterlife (doesn't, ever) end with you endlessly contemplating suicide.

I 've experienced the same thoughts. How could anybody stand to live forever? It sounds very scary. Actually, I think most people have the wrong notion of the afterlife. According to scripture, we will be physically resurrected on the last day. We will have physical bodies and will eat and drink and all that stuff - the bible speaks of the great feast. The bible also says that after the resurrection we will live on the "new earth", possibly a recreation od Eden. So I imagine we'll probably have jobs to do and so on and need an abode of some kind. Though worship of God will be the biggest thing, our existence will be physical. As far as the"eternal" part goes, we probably won't exist in time and will be living in the moment and will have no thought as of the length of time. Nothing says we will know everything God knows and we'll probably continually be learning. Before you go off on this because of preconceived notions of the afterlife, the latter part of this post contains my personal idea of possible senarios, but the parts about the physical body, the new earth and the feast are in the bible.

[Whateverist]

14 pages in, and I'm still interested to know why Lek thinks science isn't a good avenue for exploring "why" the universe exists (I'm hoping this means "how"). I'd also like to know why he's uncomfortable creating his own meaning/purpose.

Amen. I'd also like to know why he doesn't think his own decision to go all in on goddidit doesn't count as creating his own meaning/purpose. It is his own decision to assign meaning there. How hard can it be for him to understand that others make their own choices too and, gosh darn it, sometimes we just don't choose what he has chosen.

[Lek]

14 pages in, and I'm still interested to know why Lek thinks science isn't a good avenue for exploring "why" the universe exists (I'm hoping this means "how"). I'd also like to know why he's uncomfortable creating his own meaning/purpose.

Amen. I'd also like to know why he doesn't think his own decision to go all in on goddidit doesn't count as creating his own meaning/purpose. It is his own decision to assign meaning there. How hard can it be for him to understand that others make their own choices too and, gosh darn it, sometimes we just don't choose what he has chosen.

I did answer the question you referenced. It was a couple days ago. I also understand that others choose differently than me. My original question was related to whether atheists care about the "why" of our existence or not.

[Simon Moon]

I 've experienced the same thoughts. How could anybody stand to live forever? It sounds very scary. Actually, I think most people have the wrong notion of the afterlife. According to scripture, we will be physically resurrected on the last day. We will have physical bodies and will eat and drink and all that stuff - the bible speaks of the great feast. The bible also says that after the resurrection we will live on the "new earth", possibly a recreation od Eden. So I imagine we'll probably have jobs to do and so on and need an abode of some kind. Though worship of God will be the biggest thing, our existence will be physical. As far as the"eternal" part goes, we probably won't exist in time and will be living in the moment and will have no thought as of the length of time. Nothing says we will know everything God knows and we'll probably continually be learning. Before you go off on this because of preconceived notions of the afterlife, the latter part of this post contains my personal idea of possible senarios, but the parts about the physical body, the new earth and the feast are in the bible.

Are the new bodies a reproduction of when we were in our prime?

What about those that had deformities in this life, will they have an un-deformed body in the afterlife?

What about those with mental retardation? Will they get a new brain in the afterlife?

What about those that died in the womb or as infants? Do they get a fully grown body?

You seem to know a lot about what happens in the afterlife, please inform us.