Since my revelation of my deconversion from Christianity, I've been asked one type of question more than any other. What purpose is there to life? What hope do you have without god? Isn't it depressing to think that we're just here for no purpose?

I'll address each of these, but first I have to point out that the question is rarely about coming to my conclusions from a logical standpoint. It's usually about how it FEELS to be an atheist or agnostic. The general theme of the barrage of questions from Christian friends is about emotion. Some even say that without god or Jesus they could not continue. This is an emotional statement. Much the same as I might say I can't live without my family, the truth is that I can live without them. Life will go on, and eventually I'll find my emotional support from another source.

-What purpose is there to life?

As I have explained to numerous people, my purpose in life is to leave behind a legacy. My legacy may be short lived, but legacy begets legacy. It's a chain reaction. My legacy may be lesser than that of Albert Einstein. But nonetheless, what I leave behind will be of importance to someone.

Some would argue that the purpose of life is to glorify god. Why did he create us if that was our only purpose? Is he so vain as to need us to love him? Is he such a needy god as to desire that we glorify him. Isn't the whole of existence a glory on it's own without us having to pay homage to an absent god? If there is indeed a god, I believe it to be of no real consequence ultimately. I think that all the beauty that surrounds us is evidence of something that was purposefully created. However, I have no proof of said creator. So I admire creation while I'm here. Isn't that ultimately glorifying to a creator? I can read a novel with an unknown author. I may appreciate that novel, I may gain knowledge and insight from that novel, but without knowing who wrote it, I can simply only appreciate the novel itself until I meet that writer. Upon meeting that writer, I have proof of his being. At that point, his glorification comes in my acknowledgment of his brilliant writing. Isn't that good enough for him?

So for me, I may not know what my purpose is at this moment, I may never know. But that's not what matters. What matters is that I lead a fulfilling life and live true to myself. I'd much rather be content for 70 or so years than live that length of time under the aegis of a god who tells me that I'm inferior to him, but he loves me anyway. How screwed up would our kids be if we told them that nothing they would ever do would be good enough?

-What hope do you have without god?

I hope for the future. I don't need there to be an eternity to make my life meaningful. Meaning comes from my current state of affairs. My life could be hopeless with Christ, and indeed in some ways it was. To me it was incredibly hopeless to think that my life was ultimately out of my control. I put my happiness in the hands of an absent god, who might be content with me remaining alone for the rest of my life. That's a hopeless state to me. You might be saying that the difference is that I'm glorifying myself instead of god. No. I'm simply living my life. I'm not elevating myself over anyone else. Am I better than rapists and murderers? I believe so. I live my life at a higher moral state then they. I contribute more to society than that. However, I'm not elevating myself anymore than any other normal person. My hope is in the life ahead of me, not the penultimate death that awaits my physical body and the ascension that might await my soul

-Isn't it depressing to think we're here for no purpose?

No. That's an emotion. Emotions are not only transitory, they are subjective. How you view your existence is not the same as how I view mine. Ultimately, we are the authors of our own purpose. That's comforting to me.

Much love,

Randi