If Life is Meaningless Anyway, then What's Wrong with Religion?

[Arkilogue]

Coming full existential circle?

What if you're wrong?  What if life does have meaning, goes on after death and you've been false flagged about God by for profit religions?  Forms rise and fall but the spirit remains.

Life is what you make of it....or don't.

Even if there was life after death and God was there to guide you into eternity, I still can't see how life would have any intrinsic meaning in that scenario. The most you could say about it is that it could be fun, depending on this God character. The worst you can say about it, and this makes the most sense, is that given what we currently know about the universe, your scenario is one of the least likely ones in existence(God, life after death, etc.).

You inherit what you've made of yourself.

[InquiringMind]

I've never understood what "meaning" religion gives life. Reducing it to some sort of test for a bored sky daddy? To me, that is meaningless.

It had meaning because I was part of something really important with eternal and infinite consequences.  There were billions of souls at stake, and they could end up with an eternity of felicity or an eternity of misery, depending on my actions.  It was thrilling and exciting to have such an important responsibility.  The creator of the whole universe needed something from me.  My life mattered because I had important work to do with infinite consequences.  I actually kind of miss feeling like I had such an important job to do.

But what was wrong with that?  Sure I was delusional in believing that Sky Daddy has important work for me to do, but those delusional beliefs gave me a strong sense of meaning and purpose.  What's wrong with that, especially if life is meaningless anyway? In a billion years it will make no difference whether I was right about everything or whether I was totally delusional.

[Arkilogue]

Because it's your own, you made it, and you aren't hiding behind anyone else's concepts or excuses.

If you were to bring God the gift of your life, do you think he'd be more pleased with golden authenticity or a plastic copy?

Emphasis mine


Fucking slave mentality, that is.

I work the fields, earn my keep and get stronger everyday with the potential to inherit the entirety.

Meanwhile we are all are a slave to mindless gravity, we can either follow everyone else's steps or dance on our own to inherent the meaning we've made or lack there of.

[FatAndFaithless]

Emphasis mine


Fucking slave mentality, that is.

I work the fields, earn my keep and get stronger everyday with the potential to inherit the entirety.

Meanwhile we are all are a slave to mindless gravity, we can either follow everyone else's steps or dance on our own to inherent the meaning we've made or lack there of.

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.

[Arkilogue]

I've never understood what "meaning" religion gives life. Reducing it to some sort of test for a bored sky daddy? To me, that is meaningless.

It had meaning because I was part of something really important with eternal and infinite consequences.  There were billions of souls at stake, and they could end up with an eternity of felicity or an eternity of misery, depending on my actions.  It was thrilling and exciting to have such an important responsibility.  The creator of the whole universe needed something from me.  My life mattered because I had important work to do with infinite consequences.  I actually kind of miss feeling like I had such an important job to do.

But what was wrong with that?  Sure I was delusional in believing that Sky Daddy has important work for me to do, but those delusional beliefs gave me a strong sense of meaning and purpose.  What's wrong with that, especially if life is meaningless anyway?  In a billion years it will make no difference whether I was right about everything or whether I was totally delusional.

We dip or hand into a pond of water and when we remove it, there is no sign the hand was there....except for the ripples you make that travel outward, affecting and reflecting off everything in their path.

Some people make little to no perturbation, other makes waves we all get to surf.

[FatAndFaithless]

You're starting to go off the deepity end there, Ark.

[Jackalope]

You're starting to go off the deepity end there, Ark.

Starting?

[Simon Moon]

You're starting to go off the deepity end there, Ark.

He's drowning in it...

[InquiringMind]

I'll go through an example of finding meaning in a secular accomplishment as a religious person.

I've got a couple of publications out there from my research. What is the meaning of those publications? As a Mormon, I would have said that they were meaningful because the prepared the way for God's kingdom to return to Earth, and because they were resume bullet points that would help me in my life, which meant finding a job and attracting a woman. The selfish meaning for those publications, which I just mentioned, were important because I was going to live forever and I needed to get started on it, so I needed a job, and if I was going to have an eternal wife I'd better be with someone I wanted to be with, so it was important to make myself appealing. That would have been the meaning.

Now I'm not sure what the meaning of those publications is. So some people are enlightened by them, but so what? If we're all doomed anyway, then what is the meaning of my publications?

[FatAndFaithless]

I'll go through an example of finding meaning in a secular accomplishment as a religious person.  

I've got a couple of publications out there from my research.  What is the meaning of those publications?  As a Mormon, I would have said that they were meaningful because the prepared the way for God's kingdom to return to Earth, and because they were resume bullet points that would help me in my life, which meant finding a job and attracting a woman.  The selfish meaning for those publications, which I just mentioned, were important because I was going to live forever and I needed to get started on it, so I needed a job, and if I was going to have an eternal wife I'd better be with someone I wanted to be with, so it was important to make myself appealing.  That would have been the meaning.  

Now I'm not sure what the meaning of those publications is.  So some people are enlightened by them, but so what?  If we're all doomed anyway, then what is the meaning of my publications?

You really find it that hard to find value in the enlightenment of other people just for the sake of enlightenment?

There doesn't need to be some eternal component to things to make them worth something.