What is our purpose in life?

[pacer]

I revised the opening post.

 

[koshergrl]

No, it's not. Re-read your OP. You aren't asking a question about heaven. You assert you don't believe in it.

You're asking about LIFE and the purpose of life in the absence of heaven, or, alternately, the purpose of life based on your false premise that the *purpose* of a Christian life is to attain heaven.

Either way. It's a POS op.

 

[koshergrl]

Better on the OP..it makes more sense..but now it even more obviously belongs in philosophy, lol.

 

[syrenn]

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

the purpose of life is just that.... to live. Other then then that, there is no purpose.

 

[koshergrl]

So...this is related to religion and ethics...how again?

 

[theword]

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

Since we are only God's created invisible "beings" called energy, we have no choice but to just experience life as it comes to us. We can't change anything so stop worrying about life and try enjoy what God gives us.

I realize that God deceived us from knowing Him during this age with a very strong delusion called Lucifer and the beast but if you can trust my testimony in the invisible Christ within my mind, then you'll have less fear of the future and not be so concerned about the meaning of life that none of us will remember after the death of our flesh during this age. We're going to wake up in new bodies that will never die again in a New Earth with New information ( Heaven ) without any deception to confuse us like what happened in this age.

The only purpose of life is for us created "beings" to enjoy what God created for us. It's difficult to enjoy life during this age but in the next one, we'll always be joyful and know who we are in the mind of our Creator.

 

[PainefulTruth]

You and you alone determine your purpose.

Persoanlly I do not believe in the afterlife.

I find it difficult to believe in an afterlife. I simply cannot grasp the concept of forever…never to end.

If it gets boring or something, I imagine God would have offed Itself long ago. God and any afterlife exist in a timeless state if they exist at all. I imagine that God always existed, there being no time, and It always knew it would need the companionship of other sentient being with self-aware free will that chose to seek God (Truth) without knowing whether a sentient God existed.

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life after death, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

We don't even know if there's a God, much less an afterlife, which causes us to look at ourselves. Our purpose, whether God exists or not, is to seek the Truth, which equates to the pursuit of knowledge, justice, love and beauty--and to honor the equal rights of all others in that pursuit.

You are making a false assumption that striving for everlasting life after death is the only reason for life.

True, but it doesn't hurt to hope there's a reward for pursuing the aspects of Truth and being moral. Even is it turns out there is no such reward, it can make us feel more comfortable while we're here--and we'll never know the difference if it doesn't. Hope is the only difference between atheism and laissez-faire deism--which are in turn the only two reasonable positions on the existence of God.

Life itself is a reason (personally, I believe self aware life is the universe's way of understanding itself). So, making the most of one's life HERE ON EARTH is a perfectly valid purpose.

Excellent response, and you'll note, very similar to mine.

But is simple survival all there is? Or Fun? I think fulfillment (making the most of your life) provides the greatest satisfaction, but that can sometimes mean nothing more than simply surviving morally.

 

[AVG-JOE]

What is our purpose in life?

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

That's one of those questions that will have as many correct answers as there are souls dwelling in flesh at any given moment.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoxRFOr_sQ0]Rolling Stones: "Satisfaction!" - YouTube[/ame]

Satisfaction.

There's a reason to live!​

 

[AVG-JOE]

You and you alone determine your purpose.

Persoanlly I do not believe in the afterlife.

I find it difficult to believe in an afterlife. I simply cannot grasp the concept of forever…never to end.

Because of the stigma attached to the "afterlife" It's been hijacked by religion and religious groups.

'Stigma'?

 

[AVG-JOE]

Do you deny the existence of everything you have difficulty grasping?

I may find it difficult to grasp the notion we evolved from apes but I do not deny the possibility.

Humans didn't evolve from apes.

Humans evolved along side apes from a common ancestor. There's a difference between the two concepts.

 

[koshergrl]

That's a theory.

Again, how does this relate to religion or ethics?

 

[PainefulTruth]

What is our purpose in life?

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

That's one of those questions that will have as many correct answers as there are souls dwelling in flesh at any given moment.

Satisfaction.

Satisfaction, another word for fulfillment. And yes, there are an infinite number of paths to follow in the moral pursuit of Truth (knowledge, justice, love and beauty). Hell, Honky Tonk Women could easily be, and probably have been, one such path to satisfaction. "She blew my nose and then she blew my mind"

 

[AVG-JOE]

But is simple survival all there is? Or Fun? I think fulfillment (making the most of your life) provides the greatest satisfaction, but that can sometimes mean nothing more than simply surviving morally.

Simple survival. Fun. Fulfillment.

Fortunately, satisfaction is as satisfaction does.

The material aspect of modern Monkey life sure has been a weird and warped effect.


Simple survival is a life of luck in a low-tech world.

 

[AVG-JOE]

That's a theory.

Again, how does this relate to religion or ethics?

This thread would be moved by now if it was going anywhere.

Please contribute substance or move along.

 

[koshergrl]

This is relative to religion how?

BTW, avgjoe...your creed is pretty much the same as the Church of Satanism. Is that the religious statement you're making?

Maybe there's a Church of Troll? Is that the angle?

 

[AVG-JOE]

What is our purpose in life?

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

That's one of those questions that will have as many correct answers as there are souls dwelling in flesh at any given moment.

Satisfaction.

Satisfaction, another word for fulfillment. And yes, there are an infinite number of paths to follow in the moral pursuit of Truth (knowledge, justice, love and beauty). Hell, Honky Tonk Women could easily be, and probably have been, one such path to satisfaction. "She blew my nose and then she blew my mind"

Just imagine the number when you add in some of the more popular immoral pursuits.

​

 

[Ava]

If our only reason for being is to strive for everlasting life in heaven, how can we derive meaning and purpose out of this life?

For me, it is to live my life by the Golden Rule. It is to do good to others and myself and make the best of every breath....

 

[AVG-JOE]

This is relative to religion how?

BTW, avgjoe...your creed is pretty much the same as the Church of Satanism. Is that the religious statement you're making?

Maybe there's a Church of Troll? Is that the angle?

Doesn't matter. It's a discussion that's close enough. If you are not finding religious satisfaction in this thread, find another or start your own.

My 'creed', and by that I ass-u-me you ask of my beliefs concerning origins and afterlife, is as far from 'Satanism' as it is from the rest of the creeds whose origins lay in the ancient stories known as The Torah, New Testament and Koran.

To believe in Abraham's Devil one must first believe in the God of Abraham.

 

[koshergrl]

Here ya go, joe:

"...[SIZE=+1][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] we are the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature—that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos that is indifferent to our existence."

"[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+1][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] Man—using his brain—invented all the Gods, doing so because many of our species cannot accept or control their personal egos, feeling compelled to conjure up one or a multiplicity of characters who can act without hindrance or guilt upon whims and desires. All Gods are thus externalized forms, magnified projections of the true nature of their creators, personifying aspects of the universe or personal temperaments which many of their followers find to be troubling. Worshipping any God is thus worshipping by proxy those who invented that God. Since the Satanist understands that all Gods are fiction, instead of bending a knee in worship to[SIZE=+1]—[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]or seeking friendship or unity with[/FONT][SIZE=+1][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]—[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]such mythical entities, he places himself at the center of his own subjective universe as his own highest value. We Satanists are thus our own “Gods,”[SIZE=+1] and as beneficent “deities” we can offer love to those who deserve it and deliver our wrath (within reasonable limits) upon those who seek to cause us[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]—[/FONT]or that which we cherish[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]—[/FONT]harm."

Welcome to the Church of Satan
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE]

 

[theDoctorisIn]

This is relative to religion how?

BTW, avgjoe...your creed is pretty much the same as the Church of Satanism. Is that the religious statement you're making?

Maybe there's a Church of Troll? Is that the angle?

Doesn't matter. It's a discussion that's close enough. If you are not finding religious satisfaction in this thread, find another or start your own.

My 'creed', and by that I ass-u-me you ask of my beliefs concerning origins and afterlife, is as far from 'Satanism' as it is from the rest of the creeds whose origins lay in the ancient stories known as The Torah, New Testament and Koran.

To believe in Abraham's Devil one must first believe in the God of Abraham.

The Church of Satan doesn't really have anything to do with the Devil of the Christian bible - they're more of an evolution of the old Aleister Crowley "Do what thou wilt" stuff, with some ridiculous rituals thrown in. There's no belief in any supernatural beings involved.

Anton LaVey just called it "The Church of Satan" to make it sound scary.