The meaning of "meaning."
Submitted by magilum on August 18, 2007 - 5:17pm.
I'm so confused by believers who feel threatened by a perceived lack of "meaning" in a secular outlook. It's been so long since I've asked questions about "meaning," and now it just seems so foolish to ask. We are simply awash in motives and purposes. If you can't find a purpose, I can only guess it's due to some nihilism perceived in the cartoon caricature most believers have of atheism. There are so many people that need help, so many things that need improvement, so many ways to improve conditions within our lifetimes, or for even longer views. I can't imagine doing anything for the sake of a "god's" approving pat on the ass once I die.
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No kidding
But to make an improvement you have to fight millions of people who won't be happy until the world is ablaze, war stricken, diseased, and tormented with famine.
That is what mainstream society needs to make them feel like "God" is in charge.
The longer I debate
The longer I debate theists, the more I realize they don't have definitions for anything. Consider this sentence:
God is the creator of everything and gives meaning to humanity through the sacrifice of his son to atone for our sins.
God: No definition. He's supernatural, which is literally nothing. He's omni-max, which is self contradictory at least a half dozen different ways.
Everything: Except himself? So it's not everything. So what created god?
Meaning: As you say, meaning assumes intelligence, which assumes god, which is circular, and therefore, meaningless in the logical and philosophical sense.
Sacrifice: How exactly is it a sacrifice to die when death is not death and you have lost nothing? So this sacrifice means something else, but what?
Son: Really? God has a penis? Who did he mate with? So, not really "son." Some other thing that is different, but is called son.
Atone: How does a deity who created everything 'atone' by a 'sacrifice' that isn't really a sacrifice, forgiving people for being the way he made them, and then sending those who don't believe it to eternal punishment. This doesn't fit the word atone in any definition I can find.
Sins: What is a sin? It is what god doesn't want us to do? Or is it things that we can reason to be bad? If we can reason it, then we don't need god to tell us. If we can't reason it, then it is not bad, so why is it a sin?
So, that whole sentence is just riddled with words that don't have a precise meaning!
The whole thing is simply meaningless babble.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
magilum, you've hit on the
magilum, you've hit on the reason why I chose to start pulling together what I call a 'positive' philosophy, which I call wonderism. I haven't yet put very much info on it online, but needless to say, part of its purpose is to counteract the negative stereotype that atheism = nihilism. The problem with atheism is that most people think it means 'belief in nothing'. Well, that's true when the topic is god, i.e. in place of god we don't have anything. But when it comes to the rest of life, of COURSE we have beliefs.
So, instead of telling people what I don't believe in, I'd rather tell them what I do believe in, and why it's 100 times better than theism.
Wonderist on Facebook — Support the idea of wonderism by 'liking' the Wonderism page — or join the open Wonderism group to take part in the discussion!
Gnu Atheism Facebook group — All gnu-friendly RRS members welcome (including Luminon!) — Try something gnu!