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Why do you say that?
I'm an atheist, and I have a purpose. Several, in fact. I write and draw. That's my purpose. I carved it, amongst others out for myself.
I love my girlfriend, I enjoy time with my friends, and I generally try and make the world a little better with me than it would be without me.
None of this requires God. But it all sure matters to me.
And every second I have of life is, in my eyes, made much more meaningful by the fact that at the end, that'll be it. No eternal life. No big reward. That's it.
Which means I'd better make the most of it while I'm here, right?
It's the end of life that makes life valuable. To me, the idea of eternal life completely devalues life.
HEAR, HEAR!!!
The Atheist's Wager is based on the idea that focusing on the afterlife could result in wasting your efforts during the only part of existence that we know for sure actually... exists. A statement often attributed (without certainty) to Jack London ends like this: "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." By extension, one could apply this view to the idea of an afterlife. The cacaphony of assertions about how our actions now affect our status in the hereafter makes worrying about it almost pointless, because no objective resolution can be found. So why not live in a free-spirited, compassionate manner that enriches your life and others' as well?
™ Version 4.2