All religion = affirmation that life is pointless.

[NGC1300]

If our lives had any intrinsic purpose beyond advancing the gene-replicating machine, we wouldn't need religion to tell us we'll live forever, or even that a way of escaping this drudgery exists. But our lives don't have intrinsic purpose, so this is where all the worlds religions come from. They fill the holes our species was conscious enough to recognize.

 

Take Buddhism for example. What it essentially states is that you can escape pain and drudgery by employing mind tricks. I'm sure I'll be blasted for this, as it may appear a caricature of that ideology, but that's basically what Buddhists are doing.

 

But that's not the point. The point is that because any religion even exists, this is an affirmation that our lives are an intrinsic burden. If they weren't, we wouldn't need religions.

 

The fact that Buddhism claims a path exists to escaping negative thoughts, is a concession that our lives constitute a plight before we even exit the womb. What a wonderful state of being!

 

Christianity makes the same claim. We are 'sinners' before we take our first breath. Just follow Jesus and you can find salvation. Everything will be alright.

 

Why can't more people see through this nonsense? Some may think atheism is bad, but don't see how religion is even worse - always telling you your life constitutes a problem that must be solved. Telling you you were born into sin, telling you "just follow me", telling you life is monotonous but there's a way to escape it.

 

All religions, fabrications as they are, are simply affirmations that our lives are far less satisfactory than they otherwise could be.

 

Life IS a burden, but the answer isn't religion; it's to stop bringing people into existence.

[BC1980]

If our lives had any intrinsic purpose beyond advancing the gene-replicating machine, we wouldn't need religion to tell us we'll live forever, or even that a way of escaping this drudgery exists. But our lives don't have intrinsic purpose, so this is where all the worlds religions come from. They fill the holes our species was conscious enough to recognize.

 

I've asked these same questions. TBH, if you use logic, this is the conclusion you would come to. Is religion just one, big coping mechanism? I don't know what to say after that other than I don't want this life to be pointless. That would really suck. So I continue on as a Christian. Maybe not a very good one, but I try.

[endlessabyss]

If our lives had any intrinsic purpose beyond advancing the gene-replicating machine, we wouldn't need religion to tell us we'll live forever, or even that a way of escaping this drudgery exists. But our lives don't have intrinsic purpose, so this is where all the worlds religions come from. They fill the holes our species was conscious enough to recognize.

 

Take Buddhism for example. What it essentially states is that you can escape pain and drudgery by employing mind tricks. I'm sure I'll be blasted for this, as it may appear a caricature of that ideology, but that's basically what Buddhists are doing.

 

But that's not the point. The point is that because any religion even exists, this is an affirmation that our lives are an intrinsic burden. If they weren't, we wouldn't need religions.

 

The fact that Buddhism claims a path exists to escaping negative thoughts, is a concession that our lives constitute a plight before we even exit the womb. What a wonderful state of being!

 

Christianity makes the same claim. We are 'sinners' before we take our first breath. Just follow Jesus and you can find salvation. Everything will be alright.

 

Why can't more people see through this nonsense? Some may think atheism is bad, but don't see how religion is even worse - always telling you your life constitutes a problem that must be solved. Telling you you were born into sin, telling you "just follow me", telling you life is monotonous but there's a way to escape it.

 

All religions, fabrications as they are, are simply affirmations that our lives are far less satisfactory than they otherwise could be.

 

Life IS a burden, but the answer isn't religion; it's to stop bringing people into existence.

 

 

I don't think life is a burden for everyone; and it definitely isn't 24/7, but it can be a lot of the time.

 

 

Humans make life miserable, because they have an evil nature. Greedy, prideful, lustful, arrogant, narcissistic, the list goes on...

 

 

From following a lot of your posts, you seem to lack love in your life, as well as lack belonging. These are critical for well being, and it doesn't sound like you're are well.

 

 

I can empathize with you on some level, because I isolate, and lack these things too, but I have some type of hope. I have experienced fulfilling times in my life, times where things were great, but they were very fleeting; a few years max.

 

 

Without hope things can become bleak.

 

 

Christianity strikes me in a certain way, because it emphasizes the suffering/pain in this world, but doesn't say you can actually escape it, only until you pass, and enter the next one (if there is one).

 

 

I'll agree with you on Buddhism, because this idea of Nirvana is unrealistic in the physical world. The only time you'll experience Nirvana is when you're dead.

[endlessabyss]

I've asked these same questions. TBH, if you use logic, this is the conclusion you would come to. Is religion just one, big coping mechanism? I don't know what to say after that other than I don't want this life to be pointless. That would really suck. So I continue on as a Christian. Maybe not a very good one, but I try.

 

 

Spirituality is a huge component of human existence; it can be pretty difficult to live without.

 

 

There is way to much emphasis on this idea of advancing genes, which I believe isn't the sole purpose of life.

 

 

Only in the world of materialism is gene replication the be all end all, a silly idea indeed.

[Satu]

Life might seem pointless to someone who isn't living it, but not to those who are.

[Timshel]

Life might seem pointless to someone who isn't living it, but not to those who are.

 

With all due respect Satu, this is an over simplification.

 

Humans have always 'felt' something greater than themselves. It seems the moment we became cognizant of our own mortality and that there was more around us than we have the ability to fully comprehend, there was God.

 

For some, it isn't about a 'religion' and more an innate acceptance. Human beings try to explain and label everything......when something simply is.

 

The worst thing about any religion, for me, is that there are always people wanting to corrupt and capitalize on the uncertainty of others.

 

I would suggest searching your own heart and soul and finding the vibration inside of you, it's there. Once you are in touch with it/it becomes easier to see and to be inspired, as Satu said, by life.

[NGC1300]

Life might seem pointless to someone who isn't living it, but not to those who are.

 

Subjective purposes are a dime a dozen. It's the lack of any intrinsic purpose (beyond gene replicating) that is apparent.

 

Besides, people cannot be trusted to evaluate the quality of their own lives. There are too many principles in place that often lead to a positivity bias.

 

Just like a slave may have been content with their enslavement, yet that doesn't mean we would condone slavery.

[autumnnight]

This reminds me of the story I heard of two astronauts who were observing space.

 

One said, "I did not see God anywhere."

 

The other said, "I saw God everywhere."

 

(Note: I do not have any idea if this is just a fable or true).

 

The point is that for some, religion may seem pointless. For others, it is not.

 

Why do other people's choices bother you so much?

[pureinheart]

I can empathize with you on some level, because I isolate, and lack these things too, but I have some type of hope. I have experienced fulfilling times in my life, times where things were great, but they were very fleeting; a few years max.

 

 

 

I just want to touch on this briefly- the Prophetic are famous for isolation. They almost have to due to the attack they fall under, also it's important who they let in their lives...

[Satu]

Here's a chew-thought:

 

 

“The existential attitude is one of involvement in contrast to a merely theoretical or detached attitude. “Existential” in this sense can be defined as participating in a situation, especially a cognitive situation, with the whole of one’s existence....There are realms of reality or—more exactly—of abstraction from reality in which the most complete detachment is the adequate cognitive approach. Everything which can be expressed in terms of quantitative measurement has this character. But it is most inadequate to apply the same approach to reality in its infinite concreteness. A self which has become a matter of calculation and management has ceased to be a self. It has become a thing. You must participate in a self in order to know what it is. But by participating you change it. In all existential knowledge both subject and object are transformed by the very act of knowing.”

 

- Paul Tillich.

[Timshel]

Yes Satu.....the act of living without self-consciousness becomes a reality...a very good one.

 

NCG1300 is struggling with this idealism/knowledge and has associated it with religion rather than knowledge of self and the subsequent lack there of.

 

You are on a spiritual level Satu, that many strive to achieve or do not know they want.

 

Religion is neither good or bad, imo, it is the sincerity of value and sense of purpose, the loss of dissonance between self, environment and others; 'the full monty' and the whole package. When religion is what you are, not external or outside of yourself and when you are of service to others and not self except the knowledge that self care serves the greater good.

[Horton]

If our lives had any intrinsic purpose beyond advancing the gene-replicating machine, we wouldn't need religion to tell us we'll live forever, or even that a way of escaping this drudgery exists. But our lives don't have intrinsic purpose, so this is where all the worlds religions come from. They fill the holes our species was conscious enough to recognize.

 

Life IS a burden, but the answer isn't religion; it's to stop bringing people into existence.

 

If life has no intrinsic purpose and we're all basically just a bunch of oversized worker ants waiting to die, then what difference does it matter if people waste their time on religion or not? In the grand scheme of things it wouldn't matter if they spent all their lives praying to an imaginary deity, reading romance novels or ripping the heads off of kittens. Why would it matter?

 

This is the thing about nihilism, people only take it so far and then they stop when they get too uncomfortable with the implications it brings or it no longer suits their purposes. It's much like religion in that sense. What nihilist don't acknowledge is that life can't simultaneously be meaningless and yet still have inherent value. It has to be one or the other. Either life has meaning/value or it doesn't and if it doesn't then all of the things you're concerned with are actually pointless as well and not even worth the effort it took you to start this thread in the first place. That my friend is what we call a paradox.

[Satu]

Yes Satu.....the act of living without self-consciousness becomes a reality...a very good one.

 

NCG1300 is struggling with this idealism/knowledge and has associated it with religion rather than knowledge of self and the subsequent lack there of.

 

You are on a spiritual level Satu, that many strive to achieve or do not know they want.

 

Religion is neither good or bad, imo, it is the sincerity of value and sense of purpose, the loss of dissonance between self, environment and others; 'the full monty' and the whole package. When religion is what you are, not external or outside of yourself and when you are of service to others and not self except the knowledge that self care serves the greater good.

 

 

Here's a little snippet from my journal:

 

 

"A lot of what we have inside us - what we feel, what resonates for us, doesn't seem to make sense when forced into these little packages called words, and dropped into the consensus reality. That doesn't mean that they are untrue or nonsensical - it just means that they can't survive the descent into language undiminished."

 

 

Thats something that many people miss.

[Timshel]

Here's a little snippet from my journal:

 

 

"A lot of what we have inside us - what we feel, what resonates for us, doesn't seem to make sense when forced into these little packages called words, and dropped into the consensus reality. That doesn't mean that they are untrue or nonsensical - it just means that they can't survive the descent into language undiminished."

 

Thats something that many people miss.

 

Not you. So much lost in translation. So near, so far. Warmth, thank you.

[NGC1300]

If life has no intrinsic purpose and we're all basically just a bunch of oversized worker ants waiting to die, then what difference does it matter if people waste their time on religion or not? In the grand scheme of things it wouldn't matter if they spent all their lives praying to an imaginary deity, reading romance novels or ripping the heads off of kittens. Why would it matter?

 

This is the thing about nihilism, people only take it so far and then they stop when they get too uncomfortable with the implications it brings or it no longer suits their purposes. It's much like religion in that sense. What nihilist don't acknowledge is that life can't simultaneously be meaningless and yet still have inherent value. It has to be one or the other. Either life has meaning/value or it doesn't and if it doesn't then all of the things you're concerned with are actually pointless as well and not even worth the effort it took you to start this thread in the first place. That my friend is what we call a paradox.

 

You are missing the point.

 

These religions, a 'need' for spirituality, etc, could be evidence that nihilism is true.

 

The truth doesn't have to 'matter' in the context of the universe, sub specie aeternitatis, etc but don't you still have an interest in what is actually true?

 

Maybe nihilism is what gave rise to religion and spirituality.

[pureinheart]

Here's a little snippet from my journal:

 

 

"A lot of what we have inside us - what we feel, what resonates for us, doesn't seem to make sense when forced into these little packages called words, and dropped into the consensus reality. That doesn't mean that they are untrue or nonsensical - it just means that they can't survive the descent into language undiminished."

 

 

Thats something that many people miss.

 

Did you write this Satu? It's the truth and very well-worded:)

[pie2]

Life IS a burden, but the answer isn't religion; it's to stop bringing people into existence.

 

Just how passionate are you about your beliefs? If you truly believe this, what are you going to do about it? Stopping the proliferation of life seems to define the fundamental basis to your belief system. Are you dedicating your every fiber of being to this cause?

 

If not, what do you dedicate your energies to? Most of us spend a lot of time trying to feel good, to not feel pain, and to basically increase our own position in this world. There's a possibility you might do that too. If so, why?

 

If existence is pointless, why not give everything you have away, and spend the body you've been given on something else besides your own happiness? What would be a good way to do that?

 

Or, do you think your own happiness is the ultimate life goal? If so, wouldn't that create some sort of direction and purpose to your life (however limited and minor in meaning that might be)? Some books say (ok, the bible says this ) that we should eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Do you agree?

 

I don't know what you truly believe, deep down. I don't know if many of us know what our innermost thoughts are until they are put to the ultimate tests. In a life/death situation, you might think very differently. If you come face-to-face with death, you may clamor to hold on to even one more breath. But why?

 

I do agree that there can seem to be a very meaningless aspect to life, and it can be hard to see and understand our true purposes (spiritual/religious beliefs or not). I also admit that there is a comfort in having faith that God's plan will be made clear one day.

 

I'll leave you with

. Sadly, death is inevitable and can be frightening. Immerse your soul in love while you can (before it's too late).

 

God bless.

Edited August 25, 2015 by pie2