Posted by:
ificouldhietokolob
(
)
Date: January 24, 2018 09:21AM
caffiend Wrote:
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> You are nothing more than a random coincidence in
> the cosmos--the result of some cosmic monkeys
> writing code which they don't understand, but
> release into space anyway. When you die, your code
> is dissolved along with the random collection of
> molecules and DNA. That's all you are, all you
> ever were, all you ever will be.
Come on, caffiend, that straw-man caricature is beneath you.
You also know damn well that atheism is not nihilism, nor does it "say" any of those things. The above is dishonest pap, doing nothing but enabling you to rudely dismiss -- on a non-factual basis -- billions of people from your consideration because they don't share your belief in a "loving god" for which there is no evidence of any kind.
It would do you well, my friend (and perhaps papaken's son as well) to read this:
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/blog/sean-breen/purpose-atheist-s-perspectiveAs for papaken...the "meaning" he was used to was a pale shadow of actual "meaning." It was a cheap imitation imposed on him by a cult...but it was all he knew. Here, we'll give you a "calling" -- it'll keep you busy, and give you "meaning." Here, we'll have you learn a bunch of ripped-off secret handshakes, it'll give you a shared secret with us and will give you "meaning." Meanwhile, continue to give us 10% of your income (at least) for the privilege of having us provide you "meaning."
So it was cheap and fake and a ruse -- but he didn't have to work for it. It was thrust on him.
Outside of the cult (and other cults), you have to provide your own meaning. And that takes effort, thought, action. People used to having "meaning" imposed on them sometimes don't get that. Or even want it. They can feel like they long for the days when others told them what their "meaning" was, instead of being left on their own to figure it out.
The upside? Once you find and do things that are really, honestly meaningful to you, that kind of "meaning" is far more emotionally satisfying than the cheap imitation mormons foist on you.
So how do you find your own meaning?
Here's something to read towards that end:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201402/atheism-meaning-and-the-absurdity-it-allIt mentions this book, which your son might consider:
https://www.theatheistbook.com/IMHO, the simplest and most effective way to find what life means to you is to get out and live it -- and help others do the same. As others have mentioned, doing volunteer work is a great way to get started. Whatever he does, he needs time to figure out what HE wants and what HE is -- not what the cult told him he was, or what you do, or what I do. To be able to do that is liberating and wonderful -- to contemplate it after being in a cult can be scary, though, and maybe that's where he's at right now.
Best.