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Started by Anne D., January 12, 2012, 03:49:50 AM

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En_Route

I don't think theists have necessarily solved the "meaning of life" conundrum either. For example, at the expense of being a trifle reductive, one might say that the ultimate payoff in Christianity is the gaining of eternal happiness. One might ask what is the purpose of being eternally happy, or is that to be assumed simply to be an end in itself? In daily existence, the greatest happiness is often to be found in striving and overcoming difficulty in order to achieve our goals or in acts of self-sacrifice and generosity towards others. In Heaven however there would seem to be no room for improvement, or the satisfaction of rising above adversity or of helping others in their hour of need. A state of uninterrupted bliss sounds pretty dull and pointless to me but maybe I'm just being picky.
Some ideas are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them (Orwell).

Anne D.

Enjoyed your insightful post, En_Route, especially the last line.

Also, welcome to the forum  :)

Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism

Quote from: The Magic Pudding on January 12, 2012, 04:18:06 AM
Quote from: Anne D. on January 12, 2012, 03:49:50 AM
I hope this doesn't come across as too self-important, just wanted to give a sense of where I'm coming from.

No not too self important, just about right I'd say.  


Quote from: Anne D. on January 12, 2012, 03:49:50 AMSomething I'm curious about is how others here have come to define the "meaning" or "purpose" in their lives.

Accumulating excellent hats does it for me, it just seems natural.

Welcome Anne

Welcome to the forum. I have always kept it simple with the meaning to my life.  Laugh and make others laugh.  Be good to each other and have a good sense of morality  Studies have shown that some primates have a sense of morality without religion, why can't we do the same.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out". Richard Dawkins

joeoleson

I find that my life's purpose and meaning are where I look for them, or where I want them to be.  The closest I come to living for the happiness of others is my girlfriend and sons; thankfully, they try not to take advantage of my strong feelings for them.

Good to meet you
joe
just joe

Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism

Nice to meet you.  Cool skull scholar btw.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out". Richard Dawkins

Tank

Bump.

It's funny who one considers to be a 'new' member, you have been here over 7 years now! Wow. Just goes to show there is more to membership than post count. :)

It's also interesting who posted on your introduction who no longer post here through choice or circumstance.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Tank on June 02, 2019, 10:38:37 AM
Bump.

It's funny who one considers to be a 'new' member, you have been here over 7 years now! Wow. Just goes to show there is more to membership than post count. :)

It's also interesting who posted on your introduction who no longer post here through choice or circumstance.

:smilenod:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey