Purpose For Life

[denaje]

Hello all,

 

A little background about me. I am and have always been a Christian. I grew up somewhat fundamentalist, but I've since grown much more open-minded, have questioned everything about what I believe, and have concluded that a lot of my beliefs had no basis in rational thought or in the Bible. I am a scientist and a logical thinker. I value the truth above all else, and I will seek it out, whether it is manifest in God, some other deity, atheism, or something else entirely. I have recently taken my thought process to the brink of atheism in an attempt to rationalize what I know and what I believe about God, but there's a very important sticking point that keeps me on the Christian side of the fence, and I'd very much like to hear what you have to say about it, in an effort to expand my sense of reasoning and understand your point of view.

 

I would call myself agnostic about God (in that you can't know one way or another if he exists), and I believe that all logical reasoning and scientific evidence does not shine light on a divine creator or any supernatural being. I still choose to believe in God, though, because of the apparent futility of the alternative. The crux of the matter is this: if my life is temporary instead of eternal, what is the ultimate point in living or in doing good or in doing anything at all? Eventually, my body will die and I will cease to exist. Eventually, the memory of me will be forgotten as generations pass and information decays. Eventually, our sun will burn out and all life on this planet will die. Eventually, the entire universe will collapse in a "big crunch" or expand to the point that it is a homogenous mixture of matter and energy. Either way, nothing I think or do will have an ultimate impact on the fate of the universe. So why live?

 

There was a post on this forum about this very topic over a year ago, and I took great pleasure in reading people's responses. Here are some of the responses that stuck out to me:

 

I think it's pretty easy to answer yourself if you ask, "What is the meaning of heaven?" I'm a little confused when people ask about the meaning of life being of no importance if there is nothing after life. The meaning of life is life itself. That's pretty big if you ask me. Why postpone meaning for a later time if we have to ask what the meaning of heaven is or what the meaning of God is? Dance as if the end isn't the most important part...

In my mind (what there is left of it) the "ultimate meaning of life" is simple: live it and don't impede others from doing the same.

What is missing in the false dichotomy of "Christianity vs nihilism" is the power of humanity to reach out to this world and receive a sense of wonder, fulfillment and joy in engaging with other people and nature.

I am a thinking person, and I hold value with myself. I am a self-contained entity; I don't require permission from invisible gods to enjoy my life and also face the consequences of my actions. I'd say that's closer to the opposite of nihilism.

Life is like a box, or a treasure chest.

 

The meaning of life, is when you fill the box with things you think are important.

 

It seems as if the theme in responses is either, "Live for others, for nature, and for the good of society," in which case I would respond, "But others, nature, and society will one day cease to exist, so why does it matter if they are bettered?"...or else "Live for pleasure and for the sake of living." But Ouroboros' figurative "box" will be destroyed, and my pleasure is only temporary and ultimately will have no effect. What good will come of my life if everything ends? I think the biggest reason right now that I am attracted to Christianity (though NOT the mainstream "believe-or-burn" Christianity) is that it gives my life a purpose, since I believe that it is eternal.

 

I realize this has been discussed before, but I was wondering if anyone had any new thoughts or could organize my existing ones in new ways that would more accurately represent your beliefs.

 

I've thought about posting my testimony, but I'm not sure it would be welcome, since I still call myself a Christian. (Though I empathize considerably with many of you here and can wholeheartedly understand why you left the faith. I don't pity you or envy you, but I congratulate you for honestly seeking the truth, wherever that search leads. So far my search has not led me there, but I would appreciate your input.)

[florduh]

Many people can't seem to feel comfortable or make sense of their lives without thinking there must be more, more, more. They assume that since they are human, humans are the most important thing that ever happened to the planet. We simply must have a grand purpose and permanent place in the universe.

 

If you must believe you are immortal, and can do so in spite of the evidence to the contrary, then do so. For others, nihilism is not the sole alternative to supernatural beliefs.

 

My "grand purpose" is making life a bit easier for others who are here now, and those yet to come. Living for some future eternity to be spent in an imaginary magical realm seems a waste of my time here.

[Vigile]

Many people can't seem to feel comfortable or make sense of their lives without thinking there must be more, more, more. They assume that since they are human, humans are the most important thing that ever happened to the planet. We simply must have a grand purpose and permanent place in the universe.

 

IMO, it's a conditioned response. I'd be curious to see a study done comparing cultural attitudes toward this concept.

[florduh]

IMO, it's a conditioned response.

Absolutely. It appears to be mostly a Western mindset.

[par4dcourse]

So in your heaven you all sit around and go "well, you certainly did good. No, you did good. Ole Hank did a lot of good. But you, wow, you did good." Maybe god lets you praise him extra long if you really did good?

 

Pisses you off to think no-one's keeping score, eh?

 

We try to accomplish what we can in life, without divine threats.

[Rev R]

It seems as if the theme in responses is either, "Live for others, for nature, and for the good of society," in which case I would respond, "But others, nature, and society will one day cease to exist, so why does it matter if they are bettered?"...or else "Live for pleasure and for the sake of living." But Ouroboros' figurative "box" will be destroyed, and my pleasure is only temporary and ultimately will have no effect. What good will come of my life if everything ends? I think the biggest reason right now that I am attracted to Christianity (though NOT the mainstream "believe-or-burn" Christianity) is that it gives my life a purpose, since I believe that it is eternal.

 

That life is fleeting grants a certain urgency to it. Personally I don't think that life has any particular meaning nor does it require any. The intricate interpretive dance that is the process of living is meaning enough.

[BrotherJosh]

I take almost the opposite approach to it, if we are infinite beings and we eventually end up with some manner of afterlife, what does that make of this life? If you don't believe your deeds affect your afterlife mansion size, but still believe in an afterlife, what is the point of this one? Why do any good things, fall in love, have kids, care for animals, make love, see friends, volunteer, hold down a job if it is just a blip in the radar when it comes to our eternal lives?

 

I agree Rev R here, life is fleeting. You are asking that something without a conscious decision to make itself (life) has to have a meaning (or a purpose) behind it's existence. I think it's our instinct to try to find some meaning or reason behind something.

[Guest Valk0010]

I was listening to the atheist experience show and something that was said stuck with me in the context of this conversation.

 

Why don't you just stop eating, your going to have to go number 2 anyway.

------

 

If life is just going to go away, and ceased to exist, you might as well just quit eating, because by your logic, both the idea of not eating as well as your idea is valid.

 

Your alive, your purpose is your own, go with that.

 

Question, do you have any purposes at all outside religion. Go with those.

[Vigile]

So in your heaven you all sit around and go "well, you certainly did good. No, you did good. Ole Hank did a lot of good. But you, wow, you did good." Maybe god lets you praise him extra long if you really did good?

 

I like Jim Jefferies' version: St Peter opens the gates gesturing, "There ya go son. See that big-titted whore with a line of coke on her breasts? Have at it!"

[MagickMonkey]

Ok, what if life does in fact have no purpose what so ever. What if everything we do and say and think and are are completely meaningless in the big picture? What if the truth really sucks. If the truth really is that ugly, it's ugliness does not make it less true. Believing in god may give you some short term psychological benefit, but if it is bullshit, then it all that much more meaningless. I would rather accept a cold ugly truth than false hope.

 

No matter how much we may want a god or an eternal existence or some eternal purpose, we cannot with these things into existence. We are finite beings, and most of us are probably better off by accepting this. If life has any purpose, it is whatever purpose we give it, and if that purpose means jack shit a million years from now, too bad. Enjoy the time you have rather than look forward to the time you can pretend to have after your death. Don't make sacrifices in this life for a non-existent afterlife.

 

It might help to look at time as just a linear dimension that we perceive a little differently than others. If I stand on one spot, and walk over to another spot, the starting point doesn't cease to exist. Neither do the locations in between. All the moments in the past still exist, they are just not the moments we currently perceive. Think of it another way. If you put a worm on a yard stick, you can see where it begins and ends. If you look farther down the yard stick, you won't see the worm any more. That doesn't mean the worm isn't there. It just simply doesn't take up the entire yard stick. These analogies somehow make sense to me, but I imagine I'm not explaining them very well. Maybe I'm just bonkers and full of shit.

[Overcame Faith]

It seems as if the theme in responses is either, "Live for others, for nature, and for the good of society," in which case I would respond, "But others, nature, and society will one day cease to exist, so why does it matter if they are bettered?"...or else "Live for pleasure and for the sake of living." But Ouroboros' figurative "box" will be destroyed, and my pleasure is only temporary and ultimately will have no effect. What good will come of my life if everything ends? I think the biggest reason right now that I am attracted to Christianity (though NOT the mainstream "believe-or-burn" Christianity) is that it gives my life a purpose, since I believe that it is eternal.

 

How does having an eternal life give your life any purpose whatsoever? If you live eternally, then what you do now has virtually no importance when compared to an eternal existence. A person who believes in eternal life may treat people any way they like and no matter how miserable they may make another person's life now, it won't matter because they will live eternally. Such a person need not be careful how they raise children or how well they do their job or how well they do anything since none of that matters. What is more, if we all have eternal life, then what does it matter that a worker is exposed to an unsafe workplace where he or she is mangled by a press which is devoid of safety features, or sent into a nonsense war and killed, or is raped and murdered, or is abused as a child since they will live eternally? I would argue that one who believes in eternal life is the one who has made their life devoid of true purpose.

 

Purpose only matters and is real if there is a limited amount of time to do that which matters. If you only believe in this life then you must make these short years count and that fact of life heightens the purposes for which you live. Eternal life is a life purpose killer.

[oddbird1963]

What good will come of my life if everything ends? I think the biggest reason right now that I am attracted to Christianity (though NOT the mainstream "believe-or-burn" Christianity) is that it gives my life a purpose, since I believe that it is eternal.

It sounds like you embrace your particular form of Christianity out of fear, like a child grasps its mother's leg when a stranger comes near.

 

If that works for you, fine. If the belief that a loving God is out there for you in eternity keeps you going, then that is fine for you. If Christianity is the teddy bear you cling to when life gets hard, then who is anybody to criticize that?

 

It doesn't sound like there is a rational basis for your faith, however. So I wonder why you think your "teddy bear" is any better than our "teddy bears."

 

Does one even need to think about what is beyond the end points of our lives to find meaning? If day to day pleasures and beauties and personal purposes can tide you over until that end point, what of it?

 

You have a teddy bear that, for now, exists only in your imagination. My teddy bear, ragged and torn as it is, is all around me.

 

So why live? A. I'm not dead yet. B. I don't have a strong enough reason to countermand A.

 

 

**** Edited to add a P.S. ****

 

It strikes me that "Why live?" is really a moot question. If you wrote those words or can read those words, the question is not "Why live?" You already live.

 

The question is "What do I do now with the life I have?" It really isn't "Why keep on living? Because that is automatic for most of us.

 

You can take steps toward joy and contentment or you can let the river of time wash by you.

 

Whether you bite your nails until you find the answer to your question or whether you just let the question go, you will still live.

 

What are you going to do next?

[Deva]

I would call myself agnostic about God (in that you can't know one way or another if he exists), and I believe that all logical reasoning and scientific evidence does not shine light on a divine creator or any supernatural being. I still choose to believe in God, though, because of the apparent futility of the alternative. The crux of the matter is this: if my life is temporary instead of eternal, what is the ultimate point in living or in doing good or in doing anything at all? Eventually, my body will die and I will cease to exist. Eventually, the memory of me will be forgotten as generations pass and information decays. Eventually, our sun will burn out and all life on this planet will die. Eventually, the entire universe will collapse in a "big crunch" or expand to the point that it is a homogenous mixture of matter and energy. Either way, nothing I think or do will have an ultimate impact on the fate of the universe. So why live?

 

I don't connect life with a creator God. I don't believe in a God such as the one depicted in the Bible and I don't see why there cannot be a so-called life after death without such a God. To me, nothing that IS ceases to exist. You manifestly do exist now. What exists merely changes or transforms. It does not and cannot cease. What exists includes the mind. After all, it is your mind, your thoughts, your innermost being that you are concerned with when you wonder if life continues after the event we call "death." Then again, of course, your mind has changed through the course of your life, it will merely take another form at death. No I can't prove it scientifically, but it is my complete conviction.

 

What you think affects what you do, and that does affect the whole of nature in ways we cannot calculate. The universe is all one interconnected whole. You cannot say, therefore, that life has no meaning. You will continue to "be there" as generations pass. Yes your individual petty accomplishments will no longer be called to mind by those 500 years from now, but so what? You will be there, not in the same place, the same time or the same form but "you" will exist. You will be doing other accomplishments.

[Galien]

I am happiest when I am being kind and fair, and defending the weak, so that is my purpose. I think we each decide that for ourselves. For some people it is total hedonism and for some completely different things. Its not a one size fits all affair and there are as many purposes on the earth as there are people. Im a pure idealist, I like to think that bettering ourselves for the good of all is a great purpose.

 

Some people are happy seeing how many crack whores they can fuck in one lifetime, some of us travel, some like to make money, some like to kill people for thrills.

 

To each his own

[Deva]

OOps. I forgot the OP was looking for feedback from atheists. Sorry.

[agnosticator]

So why live?

 

I ask "why live eternally?" As a Christian, you will be a sexless conduit of the Biblegod's will. Besides not experiencing nor comprehending lust, you will be clueless about pain and death, sorrow, remorse, pity, compassion, jealousy, envy, anger, and human love, along with any other "negative" emotion or desire that allows us to know and experience the opposite. All this is only possible in the here-and-now. You will have no desires, hopes or dreams for all eternity. Everything you do will easily succeed. The only purpose for you will be the joy of worshiping and basking in the approval of the biblegod. What value is a purpose such as that?

[Guest wester]

>I still choose to believe in God, though, because of the apparent futility of the alternative.

 

Remember that appearances can be deceiving.

Doesn't it come down to a matter of semantics? I mean really. what is God? Is God external circumstances? Natural forces? The Universe? The forces behind the universe? Is the need to put some sort of anthropomorphic "will" behind the creation of the universe and the operation of natural forces simply human arrogance? And a poverty of misrepresentation at best? How do you know that the universe has a beginning and an end? That there was a creation of this particular universe? Couldn't this place you see around you be another part of something larger? Or even a shadow created by a different process in another parallel universe? Or maybe our universe casts shadows in another universe that you can't perceive. How about other dimensions as postulated in M-theory? Small dimensions wrapped up in our dimensions? Could the universe be pure process - as some Hindus believe - with no fixed starting point or ending point? Would a better solution be for human philosophy to just stand down and accept that even science only presents clues and no answers and that religion is a poor substitute for what science doesn't get to anyway? If you are having trouble, I would recommend studying Astronomy, Einstein's Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and especially M-theory and String Theory. In their deepest representations, these are the modern scientific realms that touch what used to be Theology. Trying to articulate the nature of the human conditin using anything less might be a feel-good Ophra-ized simplification. And remember that even these disciplines have been critiqued quite fundamentally as well - not by Religion, but by Philosophy of Science - by guys like Popper and Kuhn. So get with it. The answers don't always lie in the places you have been looking and the questions you ask may not be formulated in ways that allow you to see the way towards real answers clearly enough (not that answers even exist or are knowable, but that the path, leading one way or the other, may be made a bit clearer). As the enlightenment philosophers characterized the Christian priests:

"The theologian says 'It's so dark in here. Put out that light!'"

 

Personally I don't know, and I don't have the arrogance to presume knowledge, but interpreting your existence in Black and White terms like - existence or non-existence, consciousness non-consciousness, corporal being and corporal non-being only touches the outlines of what is actually out there and going on. Think harder. Look deeper. Don't allow yourself to be trapped with the residues of Christian thought, or any dogmatic materialistic representations of what is real. As George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic said: Free your mind and your ass will follow.

 

Go read Camus and then move on.

 

My advice is to stick around, bring your own version of beer, chips and cocktails to the party, open you mouth to sing your song and see what happens.

[Realist]

The crux of the matter is this: if my life is temporary instead of eternal, what is the ultimate point in living or in doing good or in doing anything at all? Eventually, my body will die and I will cease to exist. Eventually, the memory of me will be forgotten as generations pass and information decays.

 

... maybe try looking at it this way.

 

Why do christians generally hold the belief that there is a purpose in life for humans but no other animal on this planet?

 

Would this seem rather contradictory as humans are just another form of animal, living, eating and reproducing identically?

 

There does not seem any divine purpose to that IMO if we accept other animals on a different playing field! This scenario sounds awfully man-made!

[Vixentrox]

I live my life because I enjoy much of it. Do I need some grand reason or purpose? Hell no. A better question is, why don't you hurry up and die Christian, so you get to magic happy land quicker. And while your at, kill your children right after baptism, kill yourself with slow acting poison, THEN ask for forgivness so you and your kids will all be in magic happy land together sooner.

[denaje]

Wow, thanks for the replies. Let's see how many I can respond to here...

 

I take almost the opposite approach to it, if we are infinite beings and we eventually end up with some manner of afterlife, what does that make of this life? If you don't believe your deeds affect your afterlife mansion size, but still believe in an afterlife, what is the point of this one? Why do any good things, fall in love, have kids, care for animals, make love, see friends, volunteer, hold down a job if it is just a blip in the radar when it comes to our eternal lives?

Purpose only matters and is real if there is a limited amount of time to do that which matters. If you only believe in this life then you must make these short years count and that fact of life heightens the purposes for which you live. Eternal life is a life purpose killer.

 

This is a fascinating perspective, and one which I have never thought of before. The traditional Christian response would be something along the lines of, "Your purpose in this life is to live a life pleasing to God and to save as many souls as possible before you die." Though, being a Universalist, I can't say I agree with it. I'll have to think more about this.

 

Ok, what if life does in fact have no purpose what so ever. What if everything we do and say and think and are are completely meaningless in the big picture? What if the truth really sucks. If the truth really is that ugly, it's ugliness does not make it less true. Believing in god may give you some short term psychological benefit, but if it is bullshit, then it all that much more meaningless. I would rather accept a cold ugly truth than false hope.

 

Agreed. Like I said, I want to know the truth, and I want to be able to separate bullshit from truth. That's why I'm asking these questions.

 

It might help to look at time as just a linear dimension that we perceive a little differently than others. If I stand on one spot, and walk over to another spot, the starting point doesn't cease to exist. Neither do the locations in between. All the moments in the past still exist, they are just not the moments we currently perceive. Think of it another way. If you put a worm on a yard stick, you can see where it begins and ends. If you look farther down the yard stick, you won't see the worm any more. That doesn't mean the worm isn't there. It just simply doesn't take up the entire yard stick.

Yeah, this makes sense. Interestingly, it's also a point of view that is used to describe God's omniscience a lot...as in we are just worms on a yardstick, but God is somehow looking at the entire yardstick at the same time. So I'm at least familiar with the analogy.

It doesn't sound like there is a rational basis for your faith, however.

 

I have long since given up the quest to provide a rational basis for my faith. One of my college classes tried to do this, but I didn't buy any of the arguments. I fully admit that my faith is entirely irrational, but I don't yet discount that rationality is the only reason to believe something.

OOps. I forgot the OP was looking for feedback from atheists. Sorry.

 

No worries. I appreciate feedback from any point of view.

 

I ask "why live eternally?" As a Christian, you will be a sexless conduit of the Biblegod's will. Besides not experiencing nor comprehending lust, you will be clueless about pain and death, sorrow, remorse, pity, compassion, jealousy, envy, anger, and human love, along with any other "negative" emotion or desire that allows us to know and experience the opposite. All this is only possible in the here-and-now. You will have no desires, hopes or dreams for all eternity. Everything you do will easily succeed. The only purpose for you will be the joy of worshiping and basking in the approval of the biblegod. What value is a purpose such as that?

 

Honestly, that doesn't sound appealing. In this respect, I have strayed from the traditional Christian teaching that that is all we are to do in heaven. My view of the afterlife is sort of an idealized version of this life, where we will still be allowed and encouraged to ask questions, explore the universe, make love...and yes, worship God too.

If you are having trouble, I would recommend studying Astronomy, Einstein's Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and especially M-theory and String Theory. In their deepest representations, these are the modern scientific realms that touch what used to be Theology.

 

Oh, believe me, I have. When I was in grade school, I would go to the adult science section of the library and check out all the books by Brian Greene and Stephen Hawking, and I read all the books about time travel, relativity, the nature of the universe, and anything else I could get my hands on. For a term research paper in my intro English class, I wrote an extensive paper about String Theory. I don't think my professor understood a word of it, but she still gave me an A.

 

... maybe try looking at it this way.

 

Why do christians generally hold the belief that there is a purpose in life for humans but no other animal on this planet?

 

Would this seem rather contradictory as humans are just another form of animal, living, eating and reproducing identically?

 

There does not seem any divine purpose to that IMO if we accept other animals on a different playing field! This scenario sounds awfully man-made!

We believe that there is a very good purpose for all the animals on this planet--to be eaten! Directly or indirectly, we hold they their entire purpose is to provide sustenance (and, to a lesser extent, comfort and companionship) to us, since we were created "special" and "higher" than the animals. And, whether I hold to Christianity or not, it still makes sense, as we seem to be the only animals that have achieved sentience and self-awareness.

 

I live my life because I enjoy much of it. Do I need some grand reason or purpose? Hell no. A better question is, why don't you hurry up and die Christian, so you get to magic happy land quicker. And while your at, kill your children right after baptism, kill yourself with slow acting poison, THEN ask for forgivness so you and your kids will all be in magic happy land together sooner.

Ahem. Well, you're partially right. I have thought many a time that it would be so much nicer to kill myself now and get to magic happy land sooner. But I would agree with what many people have already said here...that this life is a life worth living. Whether magic happy land exists or not, I still want to have children with my wife, raise them, advance my career, learn all I can about this world, explore the universe, and try to make the world a better place. Just skipping it all to get to heaven would be cheap and cowardly. Sorry, but you're stuck with me for now.

[MagickMonkey]

Ok, what if life does in fact have no purpose what so ever. What if everything we do and say and think and are are completely meaningless in the big picture? What if the truth really sucks. If the truth really is that ugly, it's ugliness does not make it less true. Believing in god may give you some short term psychological benefit, but if it is bullshit, then it all that much more meaningless. I would rather accept a cold ugly truth than false hope.

 

Agreed. Like I said, I want to know the truth, and I want to be able to separate bullshit from truth. That's why I'm asking these questions.

 

 

You're asking about the purpose of life. I'm saying life's purpose is irrelevant when determining the veracity of christianity or any other religion. You already have the answers. You are wanting us to tell you why those answers are acceptable. My answer is simply that they are true. Weather or not you can get a warm and fuzzy about those answers is irrelevant to determining their veracity. This was what I had to come to grips with then I finally admitted that I no longer believed.

 

It might help to look at time as just a linear dimension that we perceive a little differently than others. If I stand on one spot, and walk over to another spot, the starting point doesn't cease to exist. Neither do the locations in between. All the moments in the past still exist, they are just not the moments we currently perceive. Think of it another way. If you put a worm on a yard stick, you can see where it begins and ends. If you look farther down the yard stick, you won't see the worm any more. That doesn't mean the worm isn't there. It just simply doesn't take up the entire yard stick.

Yeah, this makes sense. Interestingly, it's also a point of view that is used to describe God's omniscience a lot...as in we are just worms on a yardstick, but God is somehow looking at the entire yardstick at the same time. So I'm at least familiar with the analogy.

 

FSM DAMMIT!!!! I HONESTLY thought I was being original here. There's too many people on this planet. One just can't seem to think of anything without someone else thinking of it first.

 

 

 

It doesn't sound like there is a rational basis for your faith, however.

 

 

I have long since given up the quest to provide a rational basis for my faith. One of my college classes tried to do this, but I didn't buy any of the arguments. I fully admit that my faith is entirely irrational, but I don't yet discount that rationality is the only reason to believe something.

 

Of course rationality is the foundation for belief. Think what rationality means. How do you know 2 + 2 = 4. Because it makes rational sense. Of course, the phrase "rational sense" is redundant. You know it because it makes sense. Why do you not believe in Santa Claus? Because it doesn't make sense.

 

You've basically admitted to us that you are intentionally fooling yourself for the sake of your own psychological well being. Now you need to admit that to yourself, because, ultimately, there is no long term benefit to forcing yourself to disbelieve something you know to be true and vice versa.

 

EDITED for spelling.

[R. S. Martin]

Wow, thanks for the replies. Let's see how many I can respond to here...

 

I take almost the opposite approach to it, if we are infinite beings and we eventually end up with some manner of afterlife, what does that make of this life? If you don't believe your deeds affect your afterlife mansion size, but still believe in an afterlife, what is the point of this one? Why do any good things, fall in love, have kids, care for animals, make love, see friends, volunteer, hold down a job if it is just a blip in the radar when it comes to our eternal lives?

Purpose only matters and is real if there is a limited amount of time to do that which matters. If you only believe in this life then you must make these short years count and that fact of life heightens the purposes for which you live. Eternal life is a life purpose killer.

 

This is a fascinating perspective, and one which I have never thought of before. The traditional Christian response would be something along the lines of, "Your purpose in this life is to live a life pleasing to God and to save as many souls as possible before you die."

 

If you're a scientist, this just possibly might make sense to you.

 

The Bible promises happiness/blessedness/peace if we "do these things" (as he teaches). See such passages as the Beatitudes, and Phil. 4:9. Yet it did not work that way for me despite my sincerest efforts across several decades of my life. Also, via formal and informal studies, I examined society across time and geography to see whether it applied to humanity in general. It didn't.

 

If you really want truth, the scientist in you should see something here worth looking at. Feel free to pm me for more info.

[stryper]

The purpose of life...is the living of it.

 

No more no less.

[Realist]

 

... maybe try looking at it this way.

 

Why do christians generally hold the belief that there is a purpose in life for humans but no other animal on this planet?

 

Would this seem rather contradictory as humans are just another form of animal, living, eating and reproducing identically?

 

There does not seem any divine purpose to that IMO if we accept other animals on a different playing field! This scenario sounds awfully man-made!

[/size][/font]

We believe that there is a very good purpose for all the animals on this planet--to be eaten! Directly or indirectly, we hold they their entire purpose is to provide sustenance (and, to a lesser extent, comfort and companionship) to us, since we were created "special" and "higher" than the animals. And, whether I hold to Christianity or not, it still makes sense, as we seem to be the only animals that have achieved sentience and self-awareness.

 

.... wow! What a sick argument for the existance of animals! The "book of fables" says so .... so that is it! I thought you said you are a free thinker! I certainly have way more respect for animals than you do!

Ever give any thought that a human left to his own resources amongst the animal/fish kingdom on this planet is also nothing more than "something to be eaten"? How did your god allow that given that us humans are "way" above other species? How come he did not instil in them knowledge to prevent this from happening?

 

And the self awareness come intelligence answer? Compared to a snail and a dog do you see ANY difference in intelligence between the two? Guess not ... they are only animals just to be eaten!

[agnosticator]

denaje:

since we were created "special" and "higher" than the animals. And, whether I hold to Christianity or not, it still makes sense, as we seem to be the only animals that have achieved sentience and self-awareness.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-pc_M2qI74

 

This is just one example of how animals are related to us. We aren't separate from all other life. Evolution happened and continues on.