what do you believe the meaning of life is?

[THECORBYLOON]

This Question was asked by a new member in the Quizzes & Puzzles section and prompted an unhelpful respone fae one member so I thought I'd be more helpful by asking it here.

Her post read as follows

"I am doing a report on what people think the meaning of life is. Why are we here?What were we send to do? Please answer and help me with my project. Thank you!!!


ps. if your a hitchiker fan please dont put 42!!!

lilabi Fri 20/05/05"

[jno]

Long debate here  - got into arguments about fairies which are probably not very useful, but my first post was totally helpful.

[flaming]

My answer is:  As an atheist, I can't help you in any spititual way.  I subscibe to the view that all life on this planet evolved, that the conditions on earth (as it itself evolved) provided a suitable environment for that.  Thus, for me there is no real point in anything;  I think that too many people spend too much time fretting about  unanswerable questions.  Organised religions, particularly as they have been interpreted in modern times (metaphorically speaking, the blinking of an eye in the history of the human race) have caused terrible damage to our view of the world.  We should be taking things as they are, being grateful for the accident of our existence and getting on with our short lives, hoping all the while  that conditions stay favourable for that existence.  I am often exasperated  to see the manipulations of peoples by a handful of 'elders' in the various religions (who invariably enjoy political power, too, you will notice!) who promise all manner of things in an afterlife  if we do this or that here.  All we need do here is make things comfortable for ourselves and others around us, including our fellow species.

We make ourselves disturbed and unhappy by posing questions about the meaning of life.  There is no meaning, in my view.  Whoever wrote the story of the Garden of Eden understood us very well, as we are a discontented lot.  That story was a good allegory for the human condition, in my opinion.  We had a paradise, with things provided for our life but we have turned our back on it .  Strength is within ourselves if we bother to look.

[ALLO]

that's a hard question to answer! for me it comes down to faith! the good lord will let me know in due time.

as for flaming... i'll pray for you that you will open your eyes and see that jesus christ is real. he walked this earth, he died for us and our sins, and he rose from the dead! amen! thank you jesus for dieing for me!

[lilabi]

Thank you Corbyloon!!!   And everyone else who has answered on this subject.

[magicdice]

can we have less of the trying-to-convert-people, please?

i believe that life is about making yourself happy, basically.

[l_h_kings]

I am not a hitchhiker fan, so is it ok for me to put 42?

[ALLO]

magicdice i'll pray for you too! sounds like you need jesus too!

[flaming]

TCL :   I wonder whether you have relayed these answers to 'lilabi' on Quizzes & Puzzles?