How does atheism supply meaning?

[Wootah]

We are either simply part of the world existing for a brief time, in a massive universe, with death waiting and no purpose and meaninglessness and not in control of anything or we can create something and be something. This is atheism on one end and creation on the other.

It's why I don't believe there are atheists. No one can truly hold that view and I certainly don't think any atheists on this site really drink that cup to the full. I tried. Once. A long time ago.

Obviously, people do hold this view, less the meaningless part that was added to poison the well.
For those that are uncomfortable with said view, there are religious options available to fulfill the need to have purpose supplied to them.

What I can't understand is how it is a struggle for some to find purpose in this life and then seem to project that on to others that don't suffer from such a thing. I personally treat this life as something special and have plenty of purpose, because for all I know, it is the only one we will get. The idea of this life being a test for some other life actually would make this life less meaningful as the next would become the true goal. Therefore, could it be argued that atheism supplies more meaning/value for this life than religions in general? Those that struggle to find purpose without religion would obviously not be able to see this and would then be susceptible making claims like we see above.

"No one can truly hold that view" would therefore simply be a projection.

How does atheism supply meaning?

[Tcg]

Good googly moogly, are all theists as dense as you two?

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[Diogenes]

Not exactly.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:5-7

Great verse, and perfect example of how God serves life. I know it's a hard thing to accept, but we all intuitively know that sometimes destruction is called for to achieve the end that I'm talking about, where every kind of life can flourish and be.
....
Sometimes you have to rip out the weeds so that the other plants can grow. We have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
That's not the kind of God I'm talking about. Something more in the spirit of Christ, you know, who still brings the sword.

Except...
Isn't it supposed to be the same God?
When this god 'ripped out the weeds' he ripped out the entire garden, except for a single man. This is mythic overkill of course, not reality. But it's a bit like "The operation was a success, but the patient died.

The 'spirit of Christ' did not really 'bring the sword.' He cautioned Peter against it. I realize there are conflicting scriptures, but I prefer the version of Jesus of Nazareth, the strong carpenter who, tho' he may have lost his temper throwing out the merchants misusing the temple, had the courage of his convictions. He cared about what was right.

Jesus stands in stark contrast to the vengeful god of the Old Testament (at least in most of the gospel passages).
Since the topic is about meaning, let me say a few words about how a non theist can find meanings in the life of Jesus, not 'The Christ,' but the Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus set a new course, rejecting the tribal 'God' of the 'Old Testament.'
Instead he preached a universal God, not a tribal one. His stories about the woman at the well, the Canaanite woman, the Good Samaritan teach us that our neighbor, is not someone from our tribe, our country, our church, oer beliefs, but is everyone.

Tho' I do not believe in the supernatural, nor in orthodox Christianity, what Jesus taught is something more. Even the non theist can appreciate the value in believing in something beyond the self, in the value of cooperation and love for your neighbor regardless of his differences.

[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to Diogenes in post #42]

Can do that. I don't ascribe it to anything other than natural forces and biological instincts and inclinations,but I can applaud appreciation of others and co -operation rather than ripping out whatever this or that particular god supposedly identifies as the weeds.

[theophile]

Not exactly.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.  So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:5-7

Great verse, and perfect example of how God serves life. I know it's a hard thing to accept, but we all intuitively know that sometimes destruction is called for to achieve the end that I'm talking about, where every kind of life can flourish and be.
....
Sometimes you have to rip out the weeds so that the other plants can grow. We have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
That's not the kind of God I'm talking about. Something more in the spirit of Christ, you know, who still brings the sword.

Except...
Isn't it supposed to be the same God?
When this god 'ripped out the weeds' he ripped out the entire garden, except for a single man. This is mythic overkill of course, not reality. But it's a bit like "The operation was a success, but the patient died.

The 'spirit of Christ' did not really 'bring the sword.' He cautioned Peter against it. I realize there are conflicting scriptures, but I prefer the version of Jesus of Nazareth, the strong carpenter who, tho' he may have lost his temper throwing out the merchants misusing the temple, had the courage of his convictions. He cared about what was right.

Jesus stands in stark contrast to the vengeful god of the Old Testament (at least in most of the gospel passages).
Since the topic is about meaning, let me say a few words about how a non theist can find meanings in the life of Jesus, not 'The Christ,' but the Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus set a new course, rejecting the tribal 'God' of the 'Old Testament.'
Instead he preached a universal God, not a tribal one. His stories about the woman at the well, the Canaanite woman, the Good Samaritan teach us that our neighbor, is not someone from our tribe, our country, our church, oer beliefs, but is everyone.

Tho' I do not believe in the supernatural, nor in orthodox Christianity, what Jesus taught is something more. Even the non theist can appreciate the value in believing in something beyond the self, in the value of cooperation and love for your neighbor regardless of his differences.

A lot of what you say is true. Notably, Christ does contrast the God of the OT. Purposefully so, because the God of the OT was itself a correction and a contrast to the God of Genesis 1. A bit like a pendulum, right?

Genesis 1 God (the ruach elohim) emphasizes the original and overarching intent of a world where every kind of life can be. i.e., we see God creating life and setting it free (under our oversight of course).

The God of the OT (Yahweh) emphasizes the necessity sometimes of correction through destruction, down to a single one even as you note. A world where every kind of life can be is always at risk. The very freedom inherent in the concept necessarily makes it so. (Freedom is a condition for totalitarianism...)

The God of the NT (Jesus Christ) swings the pendulum back to the original intent of Genesis 1, and healing and life, because many lost sight of this due to the intense displays Yahweh (you know, against various oppressive regimes like Egypt). But he doesn't distance himself from Yahweh. He tells us very clearly not to be confused, and that he still brings the sword... (You can't just disregard this fact, or other key teachings like the sheep and the goats.)

So none of these 'God's' are different per se. They're just emphasizing different but necessary aspects of what it means to serve life.

[Diogenes]

A lot of what you say is true. Notably, Christ does contrast the God of the OT. Purposefully so, because the God of the OT was itself a correction and a contrast to the God of Genesis 1. A bit like a pendulum, right?

Genesis 1 God (the ruach elohim) emphasizes the original and overarching intent of a world where every kind of life can be. i.e., we see God creating life and setting it free (under our oversight of course).

The God of the OT (Yahweh) emphasizes the necessity sometimes of correction through destruction, down to a single one even as you note. A world where every kind of life can be is always at risk. The very freedom inherent in the concept necessarily makes it so. (Freedom is a condition for totalitarianism...)

The God of the NT (Jesus Christ) swings the pendulum back to the original intent of Genesis 1, and healing and life, because many lost sight of this due to the intense displays Yahweh (you know, against various oppressive regimes like Egypt). But he doesn't distance himself from Yahweh. He tells us very clearly not to be confused, and that he still brings the sword... (You can't just disregard this fact, or other key teachings like the sheep and the goats.)

So none of these 'God's' are different per se. They're just emphasizing different but necessary aspects of what it means to serve life.

Doesn't it make more sense that culture and writers changed, that attitudes about God changed, rather than that there was an actual eternal God who changed?

[AquinasForGod]

[Replying to Wootah in post #1]

It doesn't and atheists just have to be okay with that as a consequence of their views.

Atheism is simply not believing theist claims. Full stop.

As to meaning, this atheist finds it in his offspring. In chasing the pretty thing around the pool table. In working my farm, and caring for the menagerie of critters on it. I find meaning in good music, and good liquor. In a good joke, or even the bad ones. I find meaning by contributing my food and funds to those in need. I find meaning in watching an ant work to bring food back to the nest. In birds singing proudly, or hawks flying menacingly. I find meaning in nigh on everything I see, touch, hear or taste. Not so much smell though, seems the cocaine and cigarettes but the kibosh on that.

But here on the site, I find the most meaning (hilarity) in watching self proud theists thinking their unprovable god belief somehow provides them some superior meaning to life.

None of that is really meaning. It all ends just like you and no one will remember. One day, it will be as if you and no one ever existed.

You don't get decide what provides meaning to my life.

I can't begin to fathom the arrogance.

It is not meaning if it all is nothing in the end. I understand that you need to feel like there is meaning.

[brunumb]

It is not meaning if it all is nothing in the end. I understand that you need to feel like there is meaning.

Having some deity providing meaning may give comfort to some, not me. As far as I am concerned there is no 'meaning' to life. We came about as a result of the properties of matter and energy. I read somewhere that life is better at dissipating heat than rock, so our green planet may be the result of entropy in action. Even without any objective meaning, my finite existence has been fun and I am in no rush to return to oblivion. No God necessary.

[JoeyKnothead]

It is not meaning if it all is nothing in the end.

But while the end ain't here, there's liquor and nekkid wimmins! Rock & Roll and fast cars. Puppies and toddlers wrasslin'. Grandgirl hugging and cheek kissing. The pretty thing's poke salad and sausage. Little girls with them high pitched voices screaming for whatever reason it is they scream. There's encyclopedias. The sound of a saw scratching its way through a stack of lumber. Christmas lights and homemade eggnog. A cool breeze on a hot summer day. A warm'n on a cold'n. Stars and dreams, and dreams of stars. Mud squishing twixt your toes. There's as many meaningful things as there are things, if one could only find em.

We oughtn ever rely on others to tell us what's meaningful, lest we end up an empty, meaningless shell of a human being.

I understand that you need to feel like there is meaning.

Says the god believer

[neverknewyou]

[Replying to AquinasForGod in post #2]

You assign meaning to your religion because it appeals to you, well, to each his/her own.

[TRANSPONDER]

It is not meaning if it all is nothing in the end.

But while the end ain't here, there's liquor and nekkid wimmins! Rock & Roll and fast cars. Puppies and toddlers wrasslin'. Grandgirl hugging and cheek kissing. The pretty thing's poke salad and sausage. Little girls with them high pitched voices screaming for whatever reason it is they scream. There's encyclopedias. The sound of a saw scratching its way through a stack of lumber. Christmas lights and homemade eggnog. A cool breeze on a hot summer day. A warm'n on a cold'n. Stars and dreams, and dreams of stars. Mud squishing twixt your toes. There's as many meaningful things as there are things, if one could only find em.

We oughtn ever rely on others to tell us what's meaningful, lest we end up an empty, meaningless shell of a human being.

I understand that you need to feel like there is meaning.

Says the god believer

At least we see another example of how the believer can never understand the unbeliever, how it is necessary at all to have a god imposing their own supposed preferences on everyone in order to have a worthwhile life. While the unbeliever can understand the believer, even if they had never been one. It is clear that they think that life has no meaning without a god telling them one. It is a delusion, just like God's morality.

In the latter case we have argued that Christians would not (and do not) run amok looting and raping if and when they lose faith, because a god is not needed for morality. In the same way they would not lose meaning in their lives. They would carry on the same way (though their preferences and restrictions might change a bit ) and They would find vistas open to them that were perhaps closed when they were God -believers. But I reckon we understand the process of ascribing all the meaning there was to a god in their own image as they do all the goodness there was to this mental Icon, and then a few shibboleths and fads they might be better off without, like a pretty head of hair rather than hijjabs and chewing rather than eschewing bacon. They know the arguments for the supposed benefits of both are false and self -serving. But they cannot see their own apologetics for a god - imposed morality and a god imposed meaning to life are equally false and religion - serving.