A wonderful universe

Originally posted by josephw
Why?

You place so little value on the here and now.

Originally posted by josephw
As a theist, (which sounds like a label, and I don't like labels except on cans of soup) I believe God is the life giver, and unless I knew I was going to live forever life would have little meaning. Without eternal life I'm just as good as dead.

So are you saying that for us atheists who do not have eternal life - and in fact for the majority of theists who don't have it either for various reasons - life should have no meaning? If it turns out you are wrong, or if at the last moment you commit some unforgivable sin and God decides no eternal life for you, will everything you have done so far and all your seemingly meaningful life vanish in a puff of smoke?

And I still don't really understand how an infinite life creates meaning. To me, it seams just as meaningless or meaningful as a finite one.

Any god that created the requirements for life (killing and eating other living things), must be pretty cruel.

Originally posted by scottishinnz
I was just thinking as I was working in the lab about 2 common theistic arguments, which seem to contradict each other.

1) The universe is so wonderful there must be a creator.

2) Without a creator life has no purpose.

Hey, welcome to the wonderful world of philosophical paradox. Ain't it grand?

Originally posted by scottishinnz
You place so little value on the here and now.

That's not true.

Originally posted by josephw
That's not true.

But apparently it is. You cannot accept the here and now without the reservation that you must exist for all time.

I accept the here and now as all there is. The here and now means everything to me, but apparently not you.

Originally posted by scottishinnz

I accept the here and now as all there is. The here and now means everything to me, but apparently not you.

Wouldn't suicide be a beautiful consummation of your relationship with the here and now? It'd be difficult to conceive of a more intense experience.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Wouldn't suicide be a beautiful consummation of your relationship with the here and now? It'd be difficult to conceive of a more intense experience.

My biological imperatives tell me it's greatly overrated.

Mind you, there are very few complaints from anyone who has successfully died, so it must be pretty good.

Originally posted by scottishinnz
My biological imperatives tell me it's greatly overrated.

Mind you, there are very few complaints from anyone who has successfully died, so it must be pretty good.

On the other hand, the increasingly higher cost of living hasn't seemed to have affected its popularity.

Originally posted by josephw
That's not true.

Sorry, but you also use the time-honoured expression of the universe being so complicated God must have made it. Maybe he didn't; we are just so tiny we cannot comprehend it.

Originally posted by scottishinnz
My biological imperatives tell me it's greatly overrated.

What else do they tell you?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
What else do they tell you?

That the woman who works at the coffee shop is real purty.

Originally posted by mjolnir
That the woman who works at the coffee shop is real purty.

Would it mean anything if you decapitated her and had sex with the corpse?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Would it mean anything if you decapitated her and had sex with the corpse?

Depends how big she is where it counts. 😉

Originally posted by mjolnir
Depends how big she is where it counts. 😉

Assume the windpipe is as big as you like.