New atheist here, gotta say, not loving it

[Odoital77]

Odoital77 Wrote: No, as I said earlier.  "On atheism there is no grounds for having hope.  You simply have the life you appear to have now, and when it is over...you are over.  Nothing that you say, do, or feel has any ultimate meaning or significance. 
 
Khemikal Wrote: No god meaning, therefore no meaning?  A bit of a stretch, don't you think?  Besides, if all you have is ultimate meaning, then you don;t have any super ultra mega ultimate meaning.

A stretch?  Not at all.  If there is no God, then there is no moral accountability for our actions.  The actions of every person feeding the homeless or caring for an orphaned child would ultimately end up the same as those of the child molester and murderer.  Nothing is truly punished, nothing rewarded, and nothing redeemed in the absence of God. So no, not a stretch at all. As far as your other comment regarding “super ultra mega ultimate meaning”, all I can say is that all of the meaning that can be had is only had via the existence of God.
 
 

Odoital77 Wrote: If I somehow found myself an atheist, I can imagine myself feeling much the same way.  Knowing myself, I would likely end up killing myself through destructive addictive behavior, probably by way of the abuse of alcohol and use of prostitutes. 
Khemikal Wrote:........therefore Hookers and Blow!

Probably.  I can’t say for sure, but I’m aware of at least some of my human frailties and the likely road I’d be on, absent my recognition of reality and following of Christ.  It’s just an educated guess though.
 
 

Odoital77 Wrote: Thankfully, I'm free from that kind of existence as a Christian.  I would invite you to reconsider the truth of theism and Christianity in particular.
Khemikal Wrote: Neat trick.  Why, do you suppose, that other christians are all about hookers and blow and meaningless lives?  It seems that you haven't all gotten the memo.

I actually don’t know what you mean.  I don’t know other Christians who are all about hookers and blow, and of course, I referred to alcohol rather than illegal drugs.  I doubt that I would go that far, but in an atheistic or naturalistic context, I suppose any of that would at least be possible.  If you are referring to some professing Christian that you know about who has been “all about” those things, then I’d have to know more about it.  Likely, you’re either not dealing with a genuine Christian or you’re dealing with a Christian that has a deep spiritual deficit in their Christian life that has seen God’s influence wane in their life.  I’d urge them to fall on their knees before God and repent, as well as to refocus on their Christian walk and the spiritual disciplines that attend the Christian life and strengthen the influence of God in our life and daily behavior.  That’s the best I can do, but each case would probably have to be looked at individually.  It’s hard to generalize sometimes.
 
 

Odoital77 Wrote:That has nothing to do with an imaginary friend.  It has to do with the fact that there is no ultimate basis for meaning on atheism.  And yes, merely because I would likely succumb to destructive behaviors if I didn't know the truth about reality doesn't mean that everyone else would to that, though I would point out that plenty of people poison their bodies and destroy their lives in just the ways I described, as well as many others.  But yeah, there are people who don't realize, are able to ignore or otherwise compartmentalize the consequences of their views and are not drastically affected by their consequences of their views as I would be.  Those people can certainly live multi-decade lives that look very much like those of any other average Joe.
Khemikal Wrote:Or maybe meaninglessness and hookers and blow isn't a consequence of atheism? I mean, we all know that;s just a consequence of tuesdays, right?

Yeah, it might not be for a lot or even most people.  I just think it would likely be a consequence of atheism for me.  The consequences of atheism would work themselves out in different ways with different people.  Obviously, a good number of people might not notice any difference from their lives today because a lot of people live their daily lives as if God doesn’t exist already, no matter what they might say if directly asked a question about their beliefs.  Others would feel a freedom to do things that they ordinarily would not have felt free to do in a different context (i.e. a context in which God actually exists).   In any case, people would be left to their own devices and would likely attempt to fill their lives with subjective meaning of a sort.  For those who can’t or couldn’t and thought a bit more deeply about reality, there would be a sort of moral nihilism that would likely emerge.  It wouldn’t be a great deal different than what we see today in the non-Christian community.  There would simply no longer be the restraining influence of Christianity, and then things would eventually change markedly.  But who can know what that would look like?  All we do know is that where God’s influence has waned significantly and/or atheism has been introduced as the dominant worldview, tyranny and death have eventually followed.  That’s not because atheism itself forces such things to occur in any way.  It’s because it removes the restraints from mankind, and the nature of man takes us down that path.  Regarding the consequences of “Tuesdays”, I have little to say.  I suspect that’s an attempt to be insulting or dismissive, but I won’t take offense.  At least I’ll try not to.  Thanks!