Summary
Since 'no God' means there's no big purpose or plan or moral standard for everyone, atheists must choose between being happy (as if their choices have meaning or significance) or being consistent (living in despair that there's no meaning or purpose to life).
"If atheism is true, there is no legitimate basis for saying that behaving one way is any worse than behaving any other way. So it really doesn't matter how you live your life. Your day-to-day choices are meaningless."
Atheist Bertrand Russell said, "We must build our lives on the firm foundation of despair."
But most atheists want to live a happy life. The problem is this is makes no sense without God, objective purpose or objective morality.
You can tell the whole world you're an atheist... but you can't live like one!
NOTE: The word 'objective' comes up a lot in the video. In this context it simply means 'independent of and unaffected by human opinion'. It's about something that's ultimate, absolute and unchanging, regardless of how human beings choose to think and behave.
Questions
1. If there's no God or great mind behind the universe, do you agree there's also no big (or objective) plan or purpose for the universe or for human beings?
- If you don't agree, where else could 'the reason for the universe' come from, since it can't come from anything IN it?
- And how do you feel about the atheist idea that our universe ultimately has no big plan or purpose?
2. If there's no God or great mind behind the universe, do you agree there's also no big (or objective) standard for morality or measure for what makes an action or a life "good"?
What do you think about the alternative ways people try to determine right from wrong and what constitutes a 'life well lived'?
- Evolution - But doesn't this simply imply 'survival of the fittest' rather than morality?
- Human social convention - But does this make things like racism and murder 'unpopular' rather than actually wrong?
- Human flourishing - But in a world without God, why should human life be more important or valuable than other species of life? And what happens when humans disagree about the best way to flourish?
3. What does it really mean to live as if there's no God, no big plan or purpose, no real standard of morality or anything to say a selfless life is better than a selfish life?
Do atheists have to choose between being happy (as if their choices have meaning or significance when really they don't) or being consistent (living in despair that there's no meaning or purpose to life)?
What's wrong with trying to be happy in this life without God or a big purpose or moral law? And what would Bertrand Russell say to this question?
4. What are the implications for all this IF GOD DOES EXIST???
Back to Zangmeister Reasonable Faith Videos
Next video: 2. Leibniz' Contingency Argument
