What is it to be human?

@philokalia said
Theres no purpose in an atheist universe

This is the assertion of a religionist whose purpose is defined by his religion. It seems you have found or created a purpose for yourself in life just like non-religionists and atheists do

@philokalia said
But if someone creates their own purpose arbitrarily, it can be said that people can create absurd things that are meaningless and even destructive to themselves and others.

So?

@fmf said
So?

"Your argument is just hot air?"

"So?"

Alright, just pointing out your purposelessness.

@philokalia said
"Your argument is just hot air?"

"So?"

Alright, just pointing out your purposelessness.

So what about what you said? So some people do absurd things or are self-destructive. So?

@philokalia said
Alright, just pointing out your purposelessness.

Religious people asserting that one has to be religious in order to have purpose in life is not very compelling.

@philokalia said
"Your argument is just hot air?"

"So?"

Alright, just pointing out your purposelessness.

Point is, people "arbitrarily create their own purpose" whether any gods exist, or not. The aggressive still make war and take land; the rich continue trying to get richer.

It turns out that your cheap shot at atheism is irrelevant to the discussion. You, sir, are the one who is full of hot air.

@caljust said
This is probably the most profound Christian statement made on this SF in a long time.

Christ’s entire message in the gospels can probably be summarised in this one sentence: Love is the fullfillment of the Law

Never once did he say “Woe unto you adulterers and fornicators, you will all burn in hell” , but he said this to the self-righteous religious leaders. He ...[text shortened]... o is “saved” and who not, but merely ask “who is my neighbour?” and act accordingly.

Thanks, fmf.

Well said.

Not the first time this sentiment has been put forth here, and I don't mean in a 'minimum of humanity', 'trying to get someone, anyone, to agree with me' way, I mean in a 'Should we profess our faith in the way Jesus did, or not?' kind of way. A way which impacts a lifestyle, and not in a 'hypothetical' way.

@secondson said
Jesus also said "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Jesus was being perfectly clear. Believe and have everlasting life, or believe not and face God's wrath.

Your post is a spurious attempt to mischaracterize the message and meaning of the Bible. While it is tru ...[text shortened]... eristic of wrath, which He says repeatedly He will pour out on an unbelieving world.

It's coming.

The message of love promotes love. The message of wrath promotes hate, or, at the very least, antipathy.

And we all know love is better than hate.

@fmf said
Hey now, well. Gosh. Thanks [I think], CalJust. But I'll have to get my backroom staffers to work on how to spin this and maybe draft a press release that protects my brand! Ha ha.

Not very funny. It's way too close to the truth.

@caljust said
Sorry to embarrass you, fmf.

But seriously, somebody can make a profound Buddhist statement and not be a Buddhist. And yours went to the core of Christ’s teaching.

Actually, the term “Christian” can be very confusing. You mentioned in another post that Christianity is the world’s largest religion.

There are three main branches, being Roman Catholic, Protestant and E ...[text shortened]... r) a threat to humankind as Militant Islam Fundamentalism or any other form of us-them divisiveness.

Yes, again, well-said.

Some of us have been banging this drum for a while now.

@bigdoggproblem said
Point is, people "arbitrarily create their own purpose" whether any gods exist, or not. The aggressive still make war and take land; the rich continue trying to get richer.

It turns out that your cheap shot at atheism is irrelevant to the discussion. You, sir, are the one who is full of hot air.

... And so what if the rich continue to get richer...?

And so what to anything that you said..?

How does this turn around the ultimate purposelessness? Do we suddenly have some mission for equality or something because rich people exist? Is there an implied meaning?

Yoi recently said that we are some fulfillment of the cosmos. We're the cosmos contemplating itself, or some other Carl Sagan "I'm a spiritual atheist because I ascribe will to inanimate, disjointed matter" stuff.

But isn't that silly? There's no purpose. There's only warring bodies of matter spawned from chaos.

I don't understand your criticism.

@suzianne said
Not very funny. It's way too close to the truth.

It was ironic. Senses of humour differ, Suzianne. I thank CalJust for his kind words about my perspective and approach to life and I thank you for endorsing them.

@philokalia said
How does this turn around the ultimate purposelessness?

People who feel purposelessness in your life often find purpose in convincing themselves that they are going to have everlasting life if they do what their god figures want them to do, and so they use that to give their lives meaning and structure. Then they often start telling people that don't need all this that their lives have no purpose. It's very weak stuff.

@fmf said
Humans find and create their own purposes. Yours is closely tied to your religion. Mine is as I have described it. This is a reflection of our human capacities and not, in and of itself, necessarily a result of design. And I haven't talked about any "lawless moral compass thing" so I think you are mistaken to think that your or anyone's perspective has 'blown it away'.

Don’t you think we all have our own individual moral compass?

@fmf said
TL : DR version:

I think "humanity" is the accumulation of billions of unique and almost limitlessly complex personal narratives and moral compasses, which in tandem make us individuals, all interacting with each other as we navigate the journey of life

Coming back to these personal narratives and moral compasses, you are implying we each have our own compasses to direct ourselves as we see fit?