IF there is indeed no God.............what then?????

[87sluggo]

If this has been brought up before on this board then I apolagize, I'm pretty new here.


Ok then, I was not brought up with any religion whatsoever. My dad renounced his Jewish faith after having to kill Arabs in 1948. Later on in the Merchant Marines, serving with an all-Jewish crew, he sat down and ate three pounds of bacon that had been put in the freezer for no good reason while the rest of the crew cheered him on. We had one Hanukkah when I was 6, then Christmas the next year, then NOTHING after that. I guess we were poor :D

Anyways................I'm 44 now. I'm gettin old. I feel old. And tired. Thanks to socialized Canadian modern medicine I'm gonna be around for a looooonnngg time, but now I'm wondering WHY? Barring a big lotto win, this is my life. Job, girlfriend, kids, etc. What's the uhhhhh point? Why am I here? I'm pretty sure I've experienced everything I possibly can given my social and economic status. I've met Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull and Ken Dryden and Al Gore and gone backstage at a Iron Maiden concert and been camping and a dog smiled at me once. What else is there? Why are WE here? What are we all doing, milling around the planet like it's The Matrix?? What is the POINT???

Is religion an answer? THE answer? A placebo?

Perhaps I should mention that I have a couple a slight mental issues, one being Severe Emotional Disconnect. Meaning I pretty much don't care. So it's not like I'm having a crisis of no-faith or anything. I'm just............bored. But maybe if there was a point to any of this...................

Anyone?

[Wickabee]

Personally, and I was brought up with religion, I think the point is that there is no point.
Rather, the point is to enjoy life and help others to enjoy life as well. Part of enjoying life is the hard work and difficult times. Part of enjoying life is being able to look back at past tribulations as triumphs. The moments in which we see no end, no help and no point are the moments that can either make us stronger for powering through it, or kill us. Those are the options.

A lot of people think about God and wonder why he allows suffering. Without suffering, what is the point of joy? How can one appreciate those moments of clarity when everything makes sense if one doesn't slog through piles of confusion and doubt.

What's the point? I think the point is to realize there is no grand point and that we are the point. Every one of us. It's kind of like the search for life in the stars. We spend so much time and energy searching, postulating and investigating just trying to find alien life in space. Yet, in the oceans of the very planet we live on are thousands, if not millions of undiscovered species, or unknown life. We spend so much time searching for what is right in front of us that we lose the fact that things are actually quite simple.

[87sluggo]

Yeahhhh BUT......there's no hard work or difficult times, just the same thing over and over and over, mundane-ity. And because my head is wired the wrong way, I have no desire to do anything about it...........

I realize I'm coming off as a whiny princess here. And I know what you're living with sir, I'd possibly be appreciating the little things more if I was in the same situation.

There's Alex who lives by the logic and there's the religious people on this board, I'm pretty sure everyone agree that the goal is to live a virtuous life and treat everyone like they'd wish to be treated...........who gets through the day better tho, those who believe that virtue is its own reward or that it'll help get you into Heaven?

[Wickabee]

Well...
1: That's kind of the thing. In order to really enjoy life, you either have to enjoy or change what you're doing. I'm not ragging or judging you, quite frankly I'd say I'm wired the same way, I'm just saying the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It could be that, in the case of people like us, simply getting off our butts is the hard work. Personally, I prefer to enjoy inactivity ;)

2: No you aren't. Or, you are, but there isn't a person alive who doesn't do the exact same whining. Either way, there's nothing wrong with it. As for what I deal with, yeah it sucks, but everyone has to deal with something sometime. My number got called and I'm just happy it's not fatal. What am I gonna do wallow in sorrow and get mad whenever someone isn't happy with life? Nah. I'll tell you, you might see things differently, but it comes down how you see life overall. Many in my position would perceive that as not appreciating what you have and give you a speech about being thankful and thinking about what if you blah blah blah. Not me. I had the same thoughts before and I still sometimes do now.
Many in my position would look at this as a life sentenced to immobility, pain and lack of abilities you used to have. I don't look at it as having my career stolen from me (which it was) I choose to look at it like I changed careers to stay at home dad. I have a chance with my daughter very few fathers do. At this point, there is a major part of me that is actually happy at how everything turned out because of this.
In short, there's no way I can be upset with anyone for voicing the same doubts and fears I have.

3: I would say neither. The righteous one is the one who acts out of love. An act for any reward, even the harmless sense of self satisfaction, is selfish. That doesn't mean it's wrong to feel good for doing good, just that doing good to feel good is, well, masturbatory.
With all that said, the reality is no one does or can know. Only God can.

[shrewsbury]

you seem aware that perhaps things could be different or better, that is the start. try some new things that don't take a lot of effort, see what happens.

a religious life, a logical life, life with theism, life without theism, all are life, you just have to live and live with yourself, which may be who you are or someone completely different, no one knows but you.

[JustAlex]

Thanks to socialized Canadian modern medicine I'm gonna be around for a looooonnngg time, but now I'm wondering WHY?

HEY!

Don't rub it in!

Thanks to America's wonderful health care.....nope, I can't even joke on this.

===========

Anyways, on topic....If we were to find out there is a god, I'm almost certain he won't be the god of any of the religions humans have made up.

Maybe he's only role was to create and destroy.....maybe the Universe is god?

Who knows, but revealing one answer would only bring a million other questions.

[shrewsbury]

I nor my family have ever had issues with The American Healthcare system, in fact my wife is a 4th generation nurse and she is a hospice nurse and her grandmother was a nurse in WWII

[mrveggieman]

I have no idea what the overall purpose of life is. I have often wondered but believe that none of us will know until we are gone. While we are here though it is our responsiblity to make the world a better place than it was when we arrived.

[87sluggo]

I have no idea what the overall purpose of life is. I have often wondered but believe that none of us will know until we are gone. While we are here though it is our responsiblity to make the world a better place than it was when we arrived.

Ohhhhhhh k. After reading and re-reading the weightier comments, here is the question............

Most of us do the right thing simply because it's the right thing, not for material or spiritual reward. And usually it's just easier, and I know this from experience, having been a wayward youth. This isn't about HOW you live as much as WHY. I see no point to any of life, maybe it's because of my "condition" or maybe it's because I have no faith or maybe I'm just genius enough to see the truth hahahahaaa.

So you people with the faith, is your belief in the afterlife reason enough to slog through this life? Do you feel affirmed daily? Do you feel happier, wholler, do you feel you have a SENSE of purpose even if you don't know what the overall purpose is?

If this is coming out rude, please believe me I don't mean it that way. I'm just looking for answers eh?

[Wickabee]

I have faith that when I die anything could happen to me. Maybe I'll go to heaven or hell, though I don't think so. Maybe I'll rot in the ground. Maybe I'll level up and get to be a housecat to a wealthy and nice family. I don't know. No one does.
I have faith that there is a God, but that doesn't my become my purpose. Nor does avoiding punishment. For me, personally, it's not why we're here so much as that we're here. We're all in the same boar we call earth. We all have a choice to live for ourselves or for something bigger, God or no.