What would you if you didnt believe in God or someone proved he didnt exist? What would you need in your life to continue living? What would you live for?
I believe in God but a deistic, impersonal god that doesn't interfere with the physical universe.
Btw, what you're doing is called 'Pascal's Wager' but its fallacious because there's not only one belief system, the Christians aren't afraid of Muslim hell, or Jewish hell, or any other religion's hell because they don't believe in those gods either. Since there are about 5,000 different religion, the difference between a Christian and an Atheist is that the former doesn't believe in in 4,999 while the latter doesn't believe in all 5,000.
In the expanded Pascal's Wager which was done purely statistically and factored in all religions with a significant percentage, it was found that "Good deeds" gave you the best chance of ending up in a decent place after death. It ranked above every other religion. Kind of interesting, don't youbthink?
@CuddleFeesh well first of all humans are social animals and I consider 'good deeds' to refer to anything that benefits another human without harming anyone else. I think we need to do them because that's the only way (in my opinion) that we can progress as a race. And yeah, because it feels good lol. It also has the added advantage of being the optimal 'religion' to guarantee you a decent afterlife (if there is an afterlife)
(Sorry I don't have the link to the full article on quora but I saved this attached image)
@PlumBerries if I'm wrong and there is something after, not necessarily heaven or paradise, then maybe what I do in life will matter and a make a difference.
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."
Non believers have more In fact to live for, there's no redemption, no forgiveness, no second chance, life is here and now, what you do as consequences now. And we have every thing to live for now.
I don't need imaginary friends Im okay with real ones. ☺
Music, family, friends, overcast days, crisp nights, simply for the joy of living in and of itself... I can't express... there's just... so much [i]here[/i].
Why would you need God at all to make your life have purpose? Do you really need a purpose handed to you, like a computer and it's programming? Are you incapable of finding your own reason?
To answer the question...
Were I to not believe in God ( I don't, anyhow ) I like to think that I would continue to do my best, like I do now, to make this life as good and... well... less full of senseless, purposeless suffering as I can. Be ashamed to die without having won some victory for humanity, say I. One does not need God to be good. Kindness for kindness own sake will ad has and continues to do more good than centuries of prayer EVER will. Period.
Being pious is all well and good. Be as pious as you please, if it please ye. But piety in the pews without a honest love for your brothers and sisters in worse situations than yours is rampant hypocrisy. You may pray and tithe and all that good stuff, but if you deliberately treat your lessers like, well, lesser than you, then St. Peter will still deny you entry passt yon pearly gates.
My list tends to change but I have several reasons for continuing to live at any given time. I need to see how Game of Thrones ends. I need to outlive Trump. My dog would be devastated if I weren't around.
Of course you're asking about life purposes. I don't especially have one and feel pretty comfortable with that.
Let me ask you a question. As a theist, what do you live for? What special purpose does believing in a god give you that atheists lack?
Thank you guys. Most of you have given very good answers which gives me a little more hope for humanity. A few of you however just dont get it. Which is to be expected
