What Gives People a Purpose in Life? Essay

As the world grows, diversity follows. With this diversity different faiths, or even lack of, are created; one being Atheism. Atheism is the unbelief of God or any other supreme being. Atheism is becoming more present within the community which sometimes leads to criticism. Since Christianity is the is the polar opposite of Atheism, their beliefs, practices, and symbols (or lack of) are bound to clash. Nonetheless, Atheism continues to grow.

Recently, I've noticed that some of my friends have become concerned about me because I'm an atheist. This is odd, because I've never made any secret of that fact, although I don't go around preaching it to anyone who will listen. Ever since I realized that I no longer agreed with any of the religious viewpoints which I was brought up with, I have explained my opinions, as clearly as I can, to those who were interested, curious, or who challenged by beliefs.

I’m agnostic; and if I walk into any room and say, “I don’t really believe in God,” the silence could be split with a knife. After that, I would be judged all night, maybe get some dirty looks as well. Atheists and agnostics are believed by Christians to be such bad people, almost as though we’re out to get the world. Just because we don’t have the same morals and beliefs, doesn’t mean that we’re bad people; it just means that we’re different in that aspect. When I told a friend of mine that I didn’t really believe in God, she said “That’s sad.” And it was sad. Sad that she thinks I’m a different person because of that. Just because I don’t follow what everyone else thinks, she thinks that I’m doomed. Having this belief doesn’t make me less of a person, it doesn’t make me less fun or intelligent or kind. It actually stung me to hear that coming from her. I’m used to hearing that from other people, and I always shrug it off. Other people’s judgments never affect me. But I admit that I had higher standards for her. I thought she was one of the Christians who would accept

Disbelief in the existence of God is an enduring, worldwide phenomenon that is quite possibly also one of the most misunderstood belief systems in the world. For many, the term “atheism” immediately spurs negative imagery inspired by years of indoctrination – churches proclaiming the sins of the infidels, and how questioning God’s infinite love will result in instant damnation. Atheists are perceived as dark, nihilistic, immoral, amoral, pessimistic, and even evil, because without God, clearly they are also without morality and goodness. But if this disbelief is so negative, why would nearly 1 billion people globally, and more than 16 percent of the American population identify themselves as “nonbelievers”? In fact, a survey published in

Some atheists were born into a secular family, and a life without a divine figure is all that they have ever known. Some were once very pious and active within a religious or philosophical organization, but learned more about what they were upholding and seen fault. Some feel that science solely and unequivocally explains the universe and, as a result, living organisms: finding it entirely unreasonable to believe that a never before seen figure created everything the human eye can see (Sexton). But nonetheless, despite the precise reason for lacking a belief in divine beings, all atheists unanimously agree that they lack belief in divine beings because they view them to be

This comes from a misunderstanding of the statement "I do not know." A more accurate way to state it is, "I am not absolutely certain, and it would be dishonest to state otherwise." People often mistake "I do not know" with "I have no idea", which are entirely separate concepts. Simply because absolute certainty is impossible does not mean one cannot have an incredibly likely conclusion from the evidence. Most atheists would admit to being agnostic, and most agnostics would identify with atheism. A person with 99% confidence in something would not be certain, but they are nearly certain because the overwhelming evidence has led them to one conclusion. This should not be equated to a person that claims to have no preference between religion and nonreligion and simply holds no opinion whatsoever on the subject or claims to not favor one as more likely than the other. When religious people hear someone say they don't know if god exists, they falsely assume someone is in the category or ambivalence, which heavily contrasts how religious people claim to know, with absolute perfect certainty that their god(s), their religion, their holy texts, and their specific interpretations of it are perfectly correct. Nonreligious people are more honest about what they are not certain about even when they have a strong perspective built on reason and evidence, as opposed to a religion built purely on

"If you look up ‘atheism’ in a dictionary, you will find it defined as the belief that there is no God. Certainly, many people understand ‘atheism’ in this way."(Bullivant) I figured this was the time to explain this to my grandmother, however those hopes were soon dashed. I remember being questioned about my morals and where I get them from if not from some "God". It seemed like an odd question, morals are taught during childhood, was she telling me that her morals and only reason for doing right was a book? I know that’s not what she meant but it seemed amusing to look at it in that way at the time. It was just recently on the day after this conversation with my grandma that I realized I was not going to get the acceptance of my family. They have made it very clear how they feel about atheists. I was told I was going to hell and that I was no longer welcome at my grandmas for Christmas. I've been told that I am leading an immoral life and that if I don’t accept "God" into my heart I am going to hell and that they cannot accept me since I don’t believe in a "God". "If you look up ‘atheism’ in a dictionary, you will find it defined as the belief that there is no God. I've also noticed that the people from the parish I used to belong to ignore me when I go to the festivals

In the text  Living to Some Purpose, the author talks about the myth of Sisyphus. He also talks about the French existentialist writer Albert Camu and his views about the myth of Sisyphus, that Camu wrote in his book. He explains how it relates to the meaning of life. There are two ways of looking at the story of Sisyphus; one of them being that all life has no meaning. The only meaning in life is your own satisfaction. Essentially it makes no difference what you do in life, if you feel satisfied, and joyful you’ll be living a fulfilled life. For example; Sisyphus who endlessly pushes the same rock, up the same hill can feel just as satisfied as a man who travels around the world curing diseases because this gives both people the same amount

Many would ask the question of “Am I any less of a person if I don’t believe in God”? In the eyes of a religious person, my opinion is that you are, but for others if I am treating them with respect, there is no reason that they should question my views against religion. It’s the same exact thing as looking at someone differently if they do believe in God. So why does religion argue that a person’s morality is lacking if they are a non-believer? Many participate in religion because of its claim of good intent and humanity. Opening the doors to atheism would under mind such ideas and set them back upon simple matters of belief in a God. Some humans that are atheist are described at trouble makers. This is prejudice. Everyone is entitled to their

Religion – each person follows one, but it is not necessarily always the same one. Myself, I am a pantheist which means I believe in the science behind everything. However, my friend, Breanna, is agnostic. This means that she “basically believes there is no scientific proof of a higher power.” Since her religion is not the same as the main religion people normally follow around here, she is scorned by many people. She has problems maintaining friendships and relationships whenever people find out she is agnostic and her family members refuse to accept it whenever they find out.

What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I

The number of atheist and agnostic has been expanding there have long been predictions that religion would fade from relevance as the world modernizes, but all the recent surveys are finding that it’s happening startlingly fast. An atheist is a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings along with an agnostic, an agnostic person is a person who holds that the existence of an ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human

My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so.

People in our society today who have the atheist point of view on religion, which is the belief that there is no god, are going against the so-called norms of society, and therefor are seen as deviant. Deviance is just an idea. Society determines what is deviant by the ideas they hold of what should be the norm. Atheism is seen as a negative deviance, or below the norm. They have a status that is placed on them in society. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they believe in evil, although that is how it is sometimes viewed from people in society who have a specific religion or faith. Atheism, which is not a new idea, has been evolving in our society, and is the reason for problems leading to debate and court cases, and for

Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit