(February 22, 2017 at 8:26 pm)Khemikal Wrote:(February 22, 2017 at 11:01 am)SteveII Wrote: Are you saying that atheism/naturalism does not lead to metaphysical conclusions? Or are you saying that metaphysical conclusions have no meaning? Or something else?
Atheism is a position regarding ones status of belief in gods...and nothing else. You, personally, have been reminded as much more times than I can count. So unless you think that your god shit has a monopoly on anything...you're not going to find it ruled out by atheism, itself. Atheism leads to nihilism, of any kind, exactly as much as roast beef leads to the same.
Even in the broadest sense of the word, atheism (defined as an absence in a belief in God) is a position that contains no God. A worldview that contains no God affects key metaphysical questions like what is there? and what is it like? To deny this seems like your way of evading the conclusion: atheism leads to things like life having no intrinsic (essential) value/purpose/meaning. How could it--we are simply the product of time and chance--two things that cannot endow meaning. I am not saying that atheist can't find meaning in life--but that is different than a theist's position that human life has value simply because it is human life (intrinsic/essential).
You might say that is a distinction without a difference. It is not. That is why abortion and euthanasia are abhorrent to many theists.
