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Author Topic:   Are Atheists Mentally Ill
Tangle
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Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 2 of 117 (705114)
08-23-2013 8:23 AM


Wow, so that's why They won't let me out.......
Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 31 of 117 (705305)
08-26-2013 2:54 AM
Reply to: Message 29 by Jon
08-26-2013 2:33 AM


Re: Short Summary
Jon writes:
What purpose is there to life besides being happy?
Life's purpose is to make more life.

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 29 by Jon, posted 08-26-2013 2:33 AM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 36 by Jon, posted 08-26-2013 10:32 AM Tangle has replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 42 of 117 (705362)
08-26-2013 1:40 PM
Reply to: Message 36 by Jon
08-26-2013 10:32 AM


Re: Short Summary
Jon writes:
Obviously not an answer to the question I was asking. But that's okay; if being obtuse makes you happy, knock yourself out.
That's not obtuse, that's a factual and correct answer to your question. There is no other purpose to life.
If you can make yourself happy in the meantime, feel free to 'knock yourself out.'

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 36 by Jon, posted 08-26-2013 10:32 AM Jon has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 44 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 1:55 PM Tangle has replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 49 of 117 (705370)
08-26-2013 2:29 PM
Reply to: Message 44 by New Cat's Eye
08-26-2013 1:55 PM


Re: Short Summary
Catholic Scientist writes:
There is no other purpose to life.
There's the question of what is the purpose of this collection of self-replicating organic material, and then there's the question of what is the purpose of your existence as an individual. He asked the latter and you answered the former.
It's the same answer.
If the question is instead "how can I feel content with my life?" I'd give a slightly different answer (although it would contain a large element of replicating life - or at least going through the motions.)
The reason religion exists at all, is the egotistical opinion that life has a puropse beyond itself - it doesn't.

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 44 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 1:55 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 57 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 2:43 PM Tangle has replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 62 of 117 (705385)
08-26-2013 3:56 PM
Reply to: Message 57 by New Cat's Eye
08-26-2013 2:43 PM


Re: Short Summary
Catholic Scientist writes:
Not at all. Plenty of people's lives have had a purpose that had nothing to do with just reproducing.
Many people believe that their lives have purpose. So?
Our lives can, in fact, have a purpose.
If you mean that people can find things to do with their lives that they find worthwhile and satisfying then I agree. That, however, is not purpose.

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 57 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 2:43 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 63 by Percy, posted 08-26-2013 4:01 PM Tangle has not replied
 Message 66 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 4:19 PM Tangle has replied
 Message 73 by Jon, posted 08-26-2013 6:05 PM Tangle has not replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


(2)
Message 64 of 117 (705387)
08-26-2013 4:04 PM
Reply to: Message 60 by Jon
08-26-2013 3:28 PM


Re: Short Summary
Jon writes:
I think it's clear that Tangle was being an equivocating wise ass.
No need to dwell on his nonsense.
It's clear you either don't understand the point or don't want to.
Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 60 by Jon, posted 08-26-2013 3:28 PM Jon has not replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 69 of 117 (705394)
08-26-2013 5:12 PM
Reply to: Message 66 by New Cat's Eye
08-26-2013 4:19 PM


Re: Short Summary
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

This message is a reply to:
 Message 66 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-26-2013 4:19 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 83 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-27-2013 11:43 AM Tangle has replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 86 of 117 (705459)
08-27-2013 1:37 PM
Reply to: Message 83 by New Cat's Eye
08-27-2013 11:43 AM


CS writes:
I don't believe that's true, in that accepting life has no Purpose isn't a requirement. Can you make it's case with an argument?
Accepting life has no Purpose is not a requirement to being content with your lot. Those that believe that it DOES have a Purpose can, of course, be happy.
My comment was that those that belief life has a Purpose often think that we atheists can't be happy (or have any sense of morality for that matter) because we have no Purpose. I'm simply saying that it's perfectly possible to lead a happy and contented life having accepted that life is ultimately pointless. (In the grander sense.)

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

This message is a reply to:
 Message 83 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-27-2013 11:43 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 87 by New Cat's Eye, posted 08-27-2013 1:56 PM Tangle has not replied

  
Tangle
Member
Posts: 9489
From: UK
Joined: 10-07-2011
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 113 of 117 (705572)
08-29-2013 3:04 AM


FYI
Wealth and Religion
A study in the United States, published in the Social Forces journal and conducted by Sociology researcher Lisa A. Keister, found that adherents of Judaism and Episcopalian attained the most wealth, believers of Catholicism and mainline Protestants were in the middle, while conservative Protestants accumulated the least wealth, while in general people who attend religious services achieved more wealth than those who do not (taking into account variations of education and other factors).[1] The researcher suggests that wealth accumulation is shaped by family processes.[2]
The median net worth of people believing in the Jewish religion is calculated at 150,890 USD, while the median net worth of conservative Protestants (including Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Christian Scientists) was found at 26,200 USD.[1] The overall median in the dataset was 48,200 USD.
Another study, published in the American Journal of Sociology (AJS) by Lisa Keister, found that "religion affects wealth indirectly through educational attainment, fertility, and female labor force participation" but also found some evidence of direct effects of religion on wealth attainment.[3]
Wealth and atheism
Some studies have found correlations between wealth and lack of religious beliefs. The GDP of countries generally correlates negatively with their religiosity, i.e. the less religious a population is the wealthier it is.[4][5]
Wealth and religion - Wikipedia

Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android

  
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