Without God(s), what is the point?!

[KWED]

Of course it does. If you are just an accident vs being a loving creation that changes everything.

I was not an "accident". My birth was planned. Same applies to most people I know. They qualify under your description of a "loving creation". We are valued by our parents. Our lives and theirs have meaning in the context of each other. And still no god necessary.

 

[PearlSeeker]

The preacher of Ecclesiastes questioned the point of life. I resonate with him.
Maybe I just need to accept that I can live a simple life. No need for a higher grand purpose. Maybe finding contentment in simplicity is the point of life.

I like this verse from Ecclesiastes:

Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. See that your clothes are white all the time, and that there is no lack of oil on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.​

 

[Wildswanderer]

That is your opinion.

So again, would gold have value without humans to assign that value to it?

No... which supports my point.
Without a higher authority placing value on us, we would not have value.

 

[Wildswanderer]

I was not an "accident". My birth was planned. Same applies to most people I know. They qualify under your description of a "loving creation". We are valued by our parents. Our lives and theirs have meaning in the context of each other. And still no god necessary.

Oh, wow, so now if I wasn't planned by my parents, which I wasn't, I have no value?
Other people value us, sure, but that's not true of everyone. We are fortunate to have people who see us that way. But God values the ones no human cares about. Ultimately it's only his opinion that is going to matter.

 

[KWED]

No... which supports my point.
Without a higher authority placing value on us, we would not have value.

Way to spectacularly miss the point!
We are the higher authority placing value and deciding meaning. I place value on other humans. I give meaning to my existence.
There is no need for a god to do it.

Did you really think that gold, only has value because god says it does?

 

[KWED]

Oh, wow, so now if I wasn't planned by my parents, which I wasn't, I have no value?

Oh dear.
You were the one who claimed that people created by accident have no meaning or value.

Other people value us, sure, but that's not true of everyone. We are fortunate to have people who see us that way.

So you admit that individuals do not need god in order to have value or meaning.
Finally!

But God values the ones no human cares about. Ultimately it's only his opinion that is going to matter.

Wrong. God only values the ones who worship him. A vain and uncaring position to take.

And who are these people that "no human cares about"? Do they even exist?

 

[Wildswanderer]

And who are these people that "no human cares about"? Do they even exist?

Of course. They are here by the millions. God still loves the unloved.

 

[Wildswanderer]

And who are these people that "no human cares about"? Do they even exist?

The aborted.

 

[ppp]

The aborted.

You say that God values the aborted. In what practical way does he value them?

 

[Wildswanderer]

You say that God values the aborted. In what practical way does he value them?

As living, eternal souls.

 

[ppp]

As living, eternal souls.

I said, practical.

 

[Wildswanderer]

I said, practical.

Being with God forever is enough.

 

[ppp]

Being with God forever is enough.

Then the answer is, In no practical way.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Then the answer is, In no practical way.

That's as practical as it gets. This reality you are experiencing right now is like a morning mist. But you will continue on forever after this is over.

 

[ppp]

That's as practical as it gets. This reality you are experiencing right now is like a morning mist. But you will continue on forever after this is over.

I like morning mist. The things that are of value to me are the things that are transient. Eternal is uninteresting.

 

[Trailblazer]

I'm struggling to understand the purpose of life without God. Atheists, do you simply chase happiness and contentment with your days? Is that all there is without God?

Of course I am a bit biased but I do not believe that life has much purpose without God, since I believe that we were created to know God and observe His commandments.

“The beginning of all things is the knowledge of God, and the end of all things is strict observance of whatsoever hath been sent down from the empyrean of the Divine Will that pervadeth all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 5

 

[Sheldon]

Yes, Hitler was a human made in God's image, capable of great good or great evil

Wow, the deity you imagine is a comparable image of Hitler? No wonder you imagine this deity capable of great evil. Though none of those unevidenced assumptions explain why you think Hitler was better than a dog? In fact even by your errant image of canines, a dog would seem superior as it is not capable of great evil, according to you, though the idea it is incapable of good is manifestly absurd. Evidence abounds of the emotional attachment of dogs to their owners and of selfless acts of heroism from them on behalf of their owners.

A dog has no moral compass

You don't think dogs can learn the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviours? Leaving aside the hilarity of that claim for a moment, how would that make Hitler better? I'm sensing that irony isn't something theists are good at spotting.

 

[Sheldon]

Abortion is certainly genocide.

Ah now I see, you're making up an arbitrary definition for yet another word. I keep forgetting theists do this all the time.

genocide
noun

1. the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

Try again....so it's firstly an individual choice, and nor does it deliberately kill people, it terminates a pregnancy, and it doesn't target any nation or ethnic group, and the aim as an individual is not, nor could it be, to destroy a nation or group.

So a rather large fail there.

 

[Sheldon]

Do you understand that the injecting the word "ultimately", changes the context of the statement.
It implies there are more ways then just the "ultimate" one to infuse meaning into things.

The word "ultimately" refers to things on a cosmic scale. If tomorrow an asteroid literally evaporates the planet, as in completely reduces it into rubble, all of us will be gone. And the universe at large, or even only our galactic corner, would remain virtually unchanged. We, our entire solar system, are insignificant on a cosmic scale. In fact, our entire galaxy is insignificant on a cosmic scale. There are literally billions upon billions of them.

But none of that changes that it's not meaningless while we are here.

There you go again with your iron clad logic, and sound reasoning. How is that fair?

Good post btw...

 

[Sheldon]

We have value because God created us with value.

A textbook circular reasoning fallacy, well done, it's hard to imagine a better example of such flawed reasoning.