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In the name of what Sun Tzu embodies, the concept of war, there is. In the name of war, we fight instead of talk.
Do people need several conflicting ides on right and wrong? That's an excellent point! This creates confusion and factionalization.
Exactly right!!! Well reasoned! Your thoughts are not unlike the dilemma posed by Descartes and his thoughts on existence.
God does not necessarily equate to "god told me so" You could take god to mean, "that which is not understandable." T play devils advocate, Humans do not understand everything, otherwise we would never have discoveries and innovations. We understand that the universe is immeasurable and ever expanding, but there is always a polar opposite to everything we say with definiteness. There could be something that understands immeasurability. As for the French revolution, that is commonly referred to in history, especially by napoleon, as the "reign of terror." Doesn't seem to ideal to me.
dukha, the pain we suffer in corporeal form striving to achieve release from the "wheel of samsara" or life.
Neither is a full on democracy a solution either. With so many individuals having their say, they begin to argue, and as the arguing becomes more intense, nothing is done. Also, true democracies have the tendency to vote themselves out of power. Furthermore, historical democracies still had people who were much more powerful than your average joe. The politicians of the day had a tendency to keep their power within their family, as well.
The folly of human thought is that we seek finality; that is, we want a permanent solution to our problems. This is naught to occur though, as human nature does not allow for such solutions. The best man can do is make a society that lasts for a couple thousand years. Past that nigh unattainable goal, all modern societies are doomed to failure some day. Sometime from now, the United States will be anarchy. The UK may be Communist, and so on and so forth. My point is that things change, so we build plans for durability, not forever.
I'm an athiest...and have huge problems with keeping motivated. I'm really into horseback riding, and I can honestly say that's the only thing that keeps me bothering to go to school every day. A lot of life is just...despair. If there's nothing after this then nothing matters, right? I'd find something and use it as a reason to gain motivation...and if that fails...well, I'm not a good one to ask.
People use religion to answer their questions with a simple one size fits all answer...and it gives them something to hope for. As previously said, a lot of it stems from fear. I have yet to see valid proof of a God or supreme being existing though...
Well said Monica and I loved the "one size fits all answer" line, cracked me up a little!
Anyway you seem to be fairly depressed due to the fact that you realize that there's no afterlife. And I can understand how you can feel that way.
But as a fellow Athiest, I feel that it's my duty to share in what keeps me motivated because maybe, knowing how other people with the same dissbelieves keeps themselves motivated can help you stay motivated to live in this world.
My motivation is simply that I refuse to go out like a sucker, to simplify it. As Jack Nicholson says in The Departed "I don't want to be a product of my enviorment, I want my enviorment to be a product of me", that's the motivation I have and the goal I seek. Simply to thouch the world, by good or by evil is less important, and how I effect it doesn't matter to me atleast. If it can be by the means of Sokrates, great! If it will be by the means of Shakespear, fine! If it have to be by the means of Hitler, so be it. I don't know how much this helps you but my point is: set up a goal for your self and let nothing stand in your way to get there. You only have one life as an athiest, make it worth remembering for the comming generations.
Hope I helped a little atleast
Well said Monica and I loved the "one size fits all answer" line, cracked me up a little!
Anyway you seem to be fairly depressed due to the fact that you realize that there's no afterlife. And I can understand how you can feel that way.
But as a fellow Athiest, I feel that it's my duty to share in what keeps me motivated because maybe, knowing how other people with the same dissbelieves keeps themselves motivated can help you stay motivated to live in this world.
My motivation is simply that I refuse to go out like a sucker, to simplify it. As Jack Nicholson says in The Departed "I don't want to be a product of my enviorment, I want my enviorment to be a product of me", that's the motivation I have and the goal I seek. Simply to thouch the world, by good or by evil is less important, and how I effect it doesn't matter to me atleast. If it can be by the means of Sokrates, great! If it will be by the means of Shakespear, fine! If it have to be by the means of Hitler, so be it. I don't know how much this helps you but my point is: set up a goal for your self and let nothing stand in your way to get there. You only have one life as an athiest, make it worth remembering for the comming generations.
Hope I helped a little atleast
I'm an athiest...and have huge problems with keeping motivated. I'm really into horseback riding, and I can honestly say that's the only thing that keeps me bothering to go to school every day. A lot of life is just...despair. If there's nothing after this then nothing matters, right? I'd find something and use it as a reason to gain motivation...and if that fails...well, I'm not a good one to ask.
People use religion to answer their questions with a simple one size fits all answer...and it gives them something to hope for. As previously said, a lot of it stems from fear. I have yet to see valid proof of a God or supreme being existing though...
One way to look at it is not in despair. Your life will be that which you create it to be. The God described in Christianity is a superbeing separate from yourself. The truth is, you are a creating being. In that you will create your life during this time. You will create despair or love or many other things. That is solely on you. There is no being out there that is going to step in and do it for you.
So make up your mind to get out of despair... and guess what! Every single day, the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. No matter how cloudy it may seem, the sun is always shinning brightly. It's a matter of how you look at it. Your day and your life will only become that of which you make of it and nothing else.
Just like a machine, they can only produce the power that is put into them and nothing else. Likewise with your life. You will only get what you put in.
So rise above the clouds dear friend and you'll see that no matter how bad it looks right here and right now, the sun still shines... all you have to do is look rise above the despairs you encounter here. Life is worthwhile and meaningful and YOU WILL NEVER DIE because you are not your body, you are a spiritual being living within a body. Your body will wear out in due time but your spirit will not and that's really who you are.
Peace!
