CS writes:
But what I said was that they do actually have a real purpose, not just that they believe that they do.
What's the difference between a purpose and a 'real' purpose?
A king has a son so as to have an heir; one purpose of that life is to be the next king.
You're using the word 'purpose' in a trivial sense, which is fine, but it's not particularly interesting. I can clean my shoes with a purpose and having accomplished that purpose i can feel happier with my lot. But again, so?
This is EVC, when we talk about puropse, it normally means Purpose. And Purpose is what religious people believe life is for. One of the things that believers puzzle over - or at least, I hear over and over again from them - is how an atheist can have Purpose without belief.
The answer is simple - if you like clean shoes, you clean them as best you can.
Once you've accepted that life has no Purpose you can find happinesses in cleaning shoes with a purpose.
Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android