(February 8, 2015 at 10:47 am)robvalue Wrote: Leaving religion is like going from an on-rails shooter (a very boring one) to an open world RPG. Enjoy the freedom!
That's a really apt analogy, mind if I expand on it? In the sense of an on-rails game, there is a very specific goal. You simply progress through the levels until you beat them all. In the case of an open world game, it is entirely possible to create a game that doesn't have an explicit end state. Maybe there is no last boss, no way to 'win' the game, but you have to ask yourself, are you playing the game so that you can check-mark some 'objective complete' boxes, or because it's fun? Does the fact that there is no ultimate 'purpose' in the game make it unenjoyable?
Or here's another example: in one game your player character might be destined to become a paladin, but in another you can pick any character class you want, and customize your stats. Does the fact that there is no greater meaning behind your character's abilities (e.g. plot-wise) mean that you would rather have them pre-determined?
Or what about the Monster Hunter series? The games (well, I only played Tri and 3 Ultimate) have paper thin plots, and don't necessarily have a well-defined final boss, and yet I can keep playing random quests over and over. I play them because they're enjoyable, not because a higher power dictated that I do so. Why would anyone need a higher power to explicitly authorize their actions?
The question as to the meaning of life has a deceptively simple answer: it's whatever you choose for it to be. It is meaningful precisely because you chose it, not in spite of that being the only reason. Besides, what kind of purpose does the Christian god grant, anyway? Eternally stroking his ego? Be glad you aren't bound to that! Oh what a sad life it would be if that were our purpose!
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
