No, life cannot have meaning in a random universe. Next question?

_{Denyse O'Leary

November 11, 2018

Atheism, Intelligent Design, Science, theism}

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In an excerpt from his recent book, Finding Purpose in a Godless World: Why We Care Even If the Universe Doesn’t, a psychiatrist explains how we can have meaning even though we don’t:

People assume that our human sense of purpose is dependent on the universe having a purpose, and without such purpose they assume that life has no meaning. This is a wholly unsubstantiated assumption. Our purposeless universe has become infused with local pockets of purpose, and this has happened through entirely natural, spontaneous processes. Purpose emerged in the universe with life itself. Purpose and meaning (and morality too) can be entirely explained as natural phenomena, emergent from a random, material universe.

All living creatures are purposeful. Simple creatures are goal-directed in rudimentary and non-conscious ways. Highly evolved creatures like us are purpose driven in complex, elaborate, conscious ways. The fact that all this evolved out of the very same basic life-instinct for gene replication does not detract from our motivation in the slightest. We have evolved to be exceedingly adept at being purpose-driven and meaning-making. Our ability to do so is in no way dependent on the universe having inherent purpose.Ralph Lewis, M.D., “Can Life Have Meaning in a Random Universe?” at Psychology Today

This author’s approach doesn’t really make any sense because if the universe has no purpose, how could we evolve to have purpose? Unless, of course, the purpose came from the outside, which would make one either a theist or a mystic. But then there is no reason to think the universe as a whole has no purpose.

Anyway, if our consciousness is an evolved illusion, it is all illusory anyway and the despairing existentialist atheists are right (though their despair is an illusion too).

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See also: Science-based morality: 400 years of failure? One really interesting development is the rise of social justice science, where even right answers are no longer a form of morality but rather a tool of oppression. Sadly, they are losing what they once had..

Comments

Eric @ 45:
if one’s conscience is too noisy, one can learn to ignore it
Case in point, the Vox co-founder who made a conscious decision to suppress his empathy for a woman being terrorized in her home by a mob. Barry Arrington_{November 12, 2018
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PS to this:
But they seem to presuppose some kind of interest that extends beyond death, because conscience can be silenced and for an atheist there is nothing beyond death so no truly long term best interest.
In fact, I do feel I have interests which extend beyond my death (but certainly not past the heat death of the universe). I hope that my actions do not harm those who are here after I'm gone, so this is a matter of conscience. Therefore I try to conserve resources such as fuel, water, forest products, etc.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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as to: "Doesn’t it make more sense to allow them to come to this conclusion without it being pushed down their throat?" LOL, Take it you how you like it, but 'pushing it down their throat' was certainly not how I meant it. That intent was imparted entirely by your own preconception, not by me. I simply made a statement of fact.,,, The Bible, the best selling book of all time, certainly has far more wisdom in it than atheists presuppose.bornagain77_{November 12, 2018
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EricMH, I can't ignore my conscience (and wouldn't want to). I prefer to live under the guidance of my conscience. People who are able to ignore their conscience (sociopaths, I guess) also sometimes punished by society as well. Severe cases can end up in prison. And by "long-term interest", I mean on the scale of a typical human lifetime. I'm not simply thinking about the next week, for example.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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@daveS, long term best interest is certainly a better justification than feels good. And living according to conscience can be good too. But they seem to presuppose some kind of interest that extends beyond death, because conscience can be silenced and for an atheist there is nothing beyond death so no truly long term best interest. So, if one's conscience is too noisy, one can learn to ignore it, and not worry that it is a warning because there is nothing beyond death and everything will eventually die in the universe's heat death.EricMH_{November 12, 2018
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BA77
daveS asks: “how ought I to live given that I no longer believe in a god?” The bible answered that question thousands of years ago:
If someone doesn’t believe in God, does anyone think that they will resort to the bible for an answer to their questions? Doesn’t it make more sense to allow them to come to this conclusion without it being pushed down their throat?Ed George_{November 12, 2018
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EricMH, I think it's extremely unlikely I could rationally justify ethical behavior to your satisfaction. Our worldviews seem to be very different. A quick suggestion, however: if you replace "it feels good" with "it is in my long-term best interest", then that's a start. Keep in mind I have a conscience and therefore it causes me distress to see those close to me (and even those not closely related to me) suffer. Therefore my long-term best interest is connected to the welfare of others.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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Moreover, Christ's resurrection from the dead provides a very plausible solution for the much sought after 'theory of everything' which seeks to unify Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity, i.e. Quantum Electrodynamics, with General Relativity:
Copernican Principle, Agent Causality, and Jesus Christ as the “Theory of Everything” - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NziDraiPiOw Shroud of Turin: From discovery of Photographic Negative, to 3-D Information, to 3-D Hologram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-TL4QOCiis
Moreover, recent advances in quantum biology also strongly support the Christian's belief that we do indeed have a transcendent, eternal, soul that is capable of living past the death of our material, temporal, bodies:
Darwinian Materialism vs. Quantum Biology - video https://youtu.be/LHdD2Am1g5Y
As to life after death, we have far more observational evidence for the reality of of life after death than we do for Darwinian claims that unguided material processes can generate the immaterial information that is ubiquitous within biological life.
Near-Death Experiences: Putting a Darwinist's Evidentiary Standards to the Test - Dr. Michael Egnor - October 15, 2012 Excerpt: Indeed, about 20 percent of NDE's are corroborated, which means that there are independent ways of checking about the veracity of the experience. The patients knew of things that they could not have known except by extraordinary perception -- such as describing details of surgery that they watched while their heart was stopped, etc. Additionally, many NDE's have a vividness and a sense of intense reality that one does not generally encounter in dreams or hallucinations.,,, The most "parsimonious" explanation -- the simplest scientific explanation -- is that the (Near Death) experience was real. Tens of millions of people have had such experiences. That is tens of millions of more times than we have observed the origin of species , (or the origin of life, or the origin of a protein/gene, or of a molecular machine), which is never.,,, The materialist reaction, in short, is unscientific and close-minded. NDE's show fellows like Coyne at their sneering unscientific irrational worst. Somebody finds a crushed fragment of a fossil and it's earth-shaking evidence. Tens of million of people have life-changing spiritual experiences and it's all a big yawn. Note: Dr. Egnor is professor and vice-chairman of neurosurgery at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/10/near_death_expe_1065301.html
Bottom line, as far as modern science is concerned, The Christian has ample reason to be extremely confident that his beliefs are true and can therefore live his life happily, and consistently, as if his life truly did have meaning and purpose because, as far as our best science can tell us, his life truly is meaningful and purposeful. Whereas, on the other hand, the atheist, as usual, has nothing but self deception to try to convince himself that his life is somehow meaningful in what he falsely claims is a meaningless universe. Verses and article:
Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Hebrews 10:12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, The Easter Question - Eben Alexander, M.D. - March 2013 Excerpt: More than ever since my near death experience, I consider myself a Christian -,,, Now, I can tell you that if someone had asked me, in the days before my NDE, what I thought of this (Easter) story, I would have said that it was lovely. But it remained just that -- a story. To say that the physical body of a man who had been brutally tortured and killed could simply get up and return to the world a few days later is to contradict every fact we know about the universe. It wasn't simply an unscientific idea. It was a downright anti-scientific one. But it is an idea that I now believe. Not in a lip-service way. Not in a dress-up-it's-Easter kind of way. I believe it with all my heart, and all my soul.,, We are, really and truly, made in God's image. But most of the time we are sadly unaware of this fact. We are unconscious both of our intimate kinship with God, and of His constant presence with us. On the level of our everyday consciousness, this is a world of separation -- one where people and objects move about, occasionally interacting with each other, but where essentially we are always alone. But this cold dead world of separate objects is an illusion. It's not the world we actually live in.,,, ,,He (God) is right here with each of us right now, seeing what we see, suffering what we suffer... and hoping desperately that we will keep our hope and faith in Him. Because that hope and faith will be triumphant. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eben-alexander-md/the-easter-question_b_2979741.html "The only human emotion I could feel was pure, unrelenting, unconditional love. Take the unconditional love a mother has for a child and amplify it a thousand fold, then multiply exponentially. The result of your equation would be as a grain of sand is to all the beaches in the world. So, too, is the comparison between the love we experience on earth to what I felt during my experience. This love is so strong, that words like "love" make the description seem obscene. It was the most powerful and compelling feeling. But, it was so much more. I felt the presence of angels. I felt the presence of joyous souls, and they described to me a hundred lifetimes worth of knowledge about our divinity. Simultaneous to the deliverance of this knowledge, I knew I was in the presence of God. I never wanted to leave, never." Judeo-Christian Near Death Experience Testimony
bornagain77_{November 12, 2018
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daveS asks:
how ought I to live given that I no longer believe in a god?
The bible answered that question thousands of years ago:
1 Corinthians 15:32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
The trouble with these 'empty calories' of hedonistic pleasure seeking, instead of noble pleasure seeking, is that, number one, it is physically harmful since 'living hedonistically' is not the way we were designed and meant to live by God,, The following study is very interesting in that, (since Darwinian evolution can’t even explain the origin of a single gene/protein by unguided material processes), it shows that objective morality is built/designed, in a very nuanced fashion, into the way our the gene expression of our bodies differentiate between ‘hedonic’ and ‘noble’ moral happiness:
Human Cells Respond in Healthy, Unhealthy Ways to Different Kinds of Happiness - July 29, 2013 Excerpt: Human bodies recognize at the molecular level that not all happiness is created equal, responding in ways that can help or hinder physical health,,, The sense of well-being derived from “a noble purpose” may provide cellular health benefits, whereas “simple self-gratification” may have negative effects, despite an overall perceived sense of happiness, researchers found.,,, But if all happiness is created equal, and equally opposite to ill-being, then patterns of gene expression should be the same regardless of hedonic or eudaimonic well-being. Not so, found the researchers. Eudaimonic well-being was, indeed, associated with a significant decrease in the stress-related CTRA gene expression profile. In contrast, hedonic well-being was associated with a significant increase in the CTRA profile. Their genomics-based analyses, the authors reported, reveal the hidden costs of purely hedonic well-being.,, “We can make ourselves happy through simple pleasures, but those ‘empty calories’ don’t help us broaden our awareness or build our capacity in ways that benefit us physically,” she said. “At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130729161952.htm
,, and, number two, those empty calories of hedonistic pleasure seeking, although they may give a fleeting sense of happiness for a short time,,
Hebrews 11:25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.
,,, although they may give a fleeting sense of happiness for a short time, the fact of the matter is that those empty calories of hedonistic pleasure seeking only mask the fact that, without God, life truly is pointless and without any real meaning and purpose. And therefore those 'empty calories' cannot sustain a 'true' happiness that has a sure foundation. i.e. Cannot give us a everlasting happiness that is 'built on the rock'. A particularly crystal clear example of this 'building a house on sand' hedonistic lifestyle was played out in the recent suicide of Anthony Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain was an atheist who once stated this:
Bourdain quote http://godlessmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/bourdain.png
What was truly tragic about Anthony Bourdain's suicide was that Anthony Bourdain was paid handsomely, by CNN, to try to find as much happiness in this world as he possibly could. His popular TV series was called "Parts Unknown". Despite having the 'dream job' of getting paid handsomely to 'eat and drink', i.e. to find as much happiness in this world as he possibly could, Anthony Bourdain was apparently left empty in that quest and ended up committing suicide. If there is any lesson to be learned in his tragic death it is that all the pleasures of this world will not bring us true fulfillment and that we must look 'higher' than this temporal realm in order to find true happiness:
Matthew: 31-33 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Some atheists may try to claim that Anthony Bourdain's suicide was a fluke and that atheists by and large do not commit more suicides that Christians. Yet they would, once again, be wrong in their claim. As the following study found, "Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation."
Of snakebites and suicide - February 18, 2014 RESULTS: Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/of-snakebites-and-suicide/
As well, although Atheists, with their hedonistic lifestyle, may pretend they are happier than Christians, the fact of the matter is that "the more frequently people attended religious events, the happier they were; 47% of people who attended several types a week reported that they were ‘very happy’, as opposed to 28% who attended less than monthly."
Are Religious People Happier Than Atheists? - 2000 Excerpt: there does indeed appear to be a link between religion and happiness. Several studies have been done, but to give an example, one study found that the more frequently people attended religious events, the happier they were; 47% of people who attended several types a week reported that they were ‘very happy’, as opposed to 28% who attended less than monthly. In practical terms, religious people have the upper hand on atheists in several other areas. They drink and smoke less, are less likely to abuse drugs, and they stay married longer. After a stressful event like bereavement, unemployment, or illness, those who worship don’t take it as hard and recover faster. All of the above are likely to be beneficial to a person’s happiness. Additionally, religious people, as a result of their beliefs, have a greater sense of meaning, purpose and hope in their lives. http://generallythinking.com/are-religious-people-happier-than-atheists/
,,, Seems those 'party all the time' empty calories of hedonistic happiness are not nearly as fulfilling and meaningful as many people tend to believe. But all this evidence should be no surprise to anyone. Pretending to have meaning and happiness in a meaningless universe, as atheists try to do, is self evidently a practice in self delusion. There is nothing controversial about it. It is 'whistling in the dark' plain and simple. Moreover, it is not as if Christians are trying to push some 'pie in the sky' belief in God and in life after death. Christians, (unlike self delusional atheists who, besides denying the reality of meaning and purpose for life, deny the reality of their very own mind and free will), literally are preaching "The Truth" about reality. i.e. There truly is a God, Jesus truly did rise from the grave, and there truly is life after death. And again, unlike the claims from atheists, modern science clearly backs these claims up. For example, Quantum Mechanics shows that God sustains this universe in its continual existence:
Double Slit, Quantum-Electrodynamics, and Christian Theism - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK9kGpIxMRM
Moreover, special relativity shows us that there is a heavenly eternal dimension above this temporal dimension.
Quantum Mechanics, Special Relativity, General Relativity and Christianity - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4QDy1Soolo
As well, general relativity, besides showing us that there was definitely a beginning to this universe,,,
Big Bang Theory - An Overview of the main evidence Excerpt: Steven Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose turned their attention to the Theory of Relativity and its implications regarding our notions of time. In 1968 and 1970, they published papers in which they extended Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to include measurements of time and space.1, 2 According to their calculations, time and space had a finite beginning that corresponded to the origin of matter and energy."3 Steven W. Hawking, George F.R. Ellis, "The Cosmic Black-Body Radiation and the Existence of Singularities in our Universe," Astrophysical Journal, 152, (1968) pp. 25-36. Steven W. Hawking, Roger Penrose, "The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, series A, 314 (1970) pp. 529-548. http://www.big-bang-theory.com/
,,, general relativity, besides showing us that there was definitely a beginning to this universe, also shows us, (as was illustrated in the "Quantum Mechanics, Special Relativity, General Relativity and Christianity" video), that there truly is a eternal, hellish, dimension below this temporal dimension.bornagain77_{November 12, 2018
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@daveS, it is unclear how an atheist rationally justifies ethical behavior beyond "it feels good". Can you clarify? As a theist, I can do something good, and it "feels good," but it also makes sense why it feels good, because my actions correspond to the objective way things are meant to be. Additionally, because there is an objective way things should be, I can continue telling myself why I should do good even if it does not "feel good." And furthermore, if I "feel bad" I can follow the objective order to learn what I must do in order to "feel good" again. The acceptance of an objective order of justice is in itself a consoling thought, especially in light of my own powerlessness and the extreme (and seemingly ever growing) injustice in the world. Being ethical for "feel good" reasons in an atheist universe reminds me of looking at a brightly decked out and attractive costume, but when I look inside it is empty.EricMH_{November 12, 2018
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Marfin,
DaveS – Regarding someone who once believed that God exist loosing that belief and the effect it would have on their behaviour can only really be judged over time and under pressure. In the short term and under no financial ,moral or other pressure then behaviour may not change too much but given perhaps years and outside pressure people will do things they would have never thought they would .
Yes, I agree. I think Charles Birch's post accurately describes how a typical person would respond to a significant change in worldview in the short term. Eventually a person will ask himself, how ought I to live given that I no longer believe in a god? So in the longer term, there could be some changes.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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If conversion can be life altering, as I think both atheists and theists would agree, why would anyone thing that decinversion wouldn’t be equally as life altering?Ed George_{November 12, 2018
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If deconversion doesn't impact a person there are a number of possible implications: 1. Belief in God is irrelevant for behavior 2. The person did not base their behavior on their belief in the first place 3. The person is not behaving consistently with their claimed unbelief Not sure why #1 is the only valid implication, as it seems people are assuming here. We have numerous historical examples where people do atrocious things and claim they are consistently living out their atheism. As it is, atheists have a hard time arguing the right to life begins at conception, and thus has just the same rights as a more developed human life. But without the ability to clearly identify what qualifies as human life, our most fundamental right to life is up in the air. Can we only kill preborn people? What if we kill them right after they are born? Is it more morally justifiable if they are poor or disabled? What if someone is killed without any suffering and without bothering those around them, why is that so different from killing the preborn? If it is ok to kill the preborn because they are dependent on the mother, is it ok to kill children or elderly grandparents because they are dependent on the parents? If so, why is it so wrong for the state to kill its citizens, since the citizens are dependent on the state, especially if most people in the state don't like the particular citizens because they seem to be a drain on society? If a particular atheist gets really upset with those around him, what's wrong with him wiping them out and then himself, since he'll face no further consequences once he's dead? And so on. In short, it is hard to see why a totalitarian state and these mass killings are not logically consistent with atheist inability to justify a right to life from conception. It might feel uncomfortable to admit, but I see no hard logical line. On the other hand, it is easy to come up with responses to my questions if humans have immortal souls and God is a just lawgiver that deals out eternal reward and punishment in the afterlife, and finite term reward and punishment in the present life, and if our own justice system is meant to emulate the divine justice system.EricMH_{November 12, 2018
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I cannot find the meaning in this thread, its purpose seems inscrutable to me. ;)Mung_{November 12, 2018
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DaveS - Regarding someone who once believed that God exist loosing that belief and the effect it would have on their behaviour can only really be judged over time and under pressure. In the short term and under no financial ,moral or other pressure then behaviour may not change too much but given perhaps years and outside pressure people will do things they would have never thought they would . But removing God now is not the same as knowing God does not and has never existed we can never really run that exersize because if God exists what influence has he had on mans behaviour ,re making us in his image, giving us a conscience, telling man from day one how we should behave.Marfin_{November 12, 2018
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I'm sorry to hear that, AaronS1978.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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That was not my experience as I had a deconversion back in 2013, I will not go into details, but I fell into a deep depression, my behaviors changed so drastically my wife and I separated (we are working on things now) I honestly stopped caring about anything. There is a lot to my story, and a lot of which I’m not comfortable to share here. My point though is how a person reacts to as you put it a “deconversion” depends on them. It will not be the same for everyone else. I believe again, but I’m constantly afraid I’ll loose my faith again, because of that 4 year stintAaronS1978_{November 12, 2018
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An atheist once told me that “if you have no meaning without God, then you have no meaning with God”. I am curious as to whether any of the atheists here can find the obvious flaw in that logic. DaveS? Seversky?Ed George_{November 12, 2018
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Charles Birch, Thanks for the response. Your view is consistent with those of many other theists, I believe. A deconversion would not lead to any radical changes in behavior. And I suspect it would not diminish one's love for one's spouse and family, and the desire to try and enrich their lives.daveS_{November 12, 2018
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daveS @29 I don't think my behaviour would change. I think my 'moral' views would remain the same. However: 1) I think I would be very aware that this moral mindset is a result of my former beliefs - the belief that, for example, Ultimate Reality has as its goal the maximisation of love, compassion and the maximal realisation of potential. I think these former beliefs would be so ingrained that I would find it difficult to change them. 2) I would also be aware that, even if I decide that my personal existence should be as loving and compassionate as possible, just for its own sake ......I would nevertheless have no grounds for suggesting that someone whose life goal is to defraud old folk of their life savings is somehow living a less worthwhile life than myself.Charles Birch_{November 12, 2018
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Charles Birch,
If I were to change my current idealist-theist (but non-‘religious’) views because of new and overwhelming evidence supporting materialism, the above is the mindset I would have to adopt as best I could.
I have suggested this type of thought experiment in past discussions. Suppose you came to believe that there is no god. How would that change your behavior? Specifically, would you no longer seek to share your gifts and good fortune with others so as to help improve their lives?daveS_{November 12, 2018
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The only atheist writer I know of who tells it like it is, is Alex Rosenberg, author of 'The Atheist's Guide to Reality'. Rosenberg has gone a very long way down the rabbit hole and concludes that a strict atheist-materialist should 'man up' and accept the purposelessness of existence. He has harsh words to say about certain of his fellow atheists like Dawkins who endeavour to insert 'meaning' and 'purpose' into their lives. In Rosenberg's view, such people are spineless pussies who simply cannot face up to the Awful Truth. He concludes his book by reminding atheists that if they can't psychologically cope with the reality of the situation, they should seek help from the wonders of modern science in the form of whichever pharmaceutical antidepressant works best for them. I like Rosenberg; he has the courage of his convictions and is facing up to the meaninglessness of his life. It is, of course, quite possible for an atheist-materialist to seek a 'purpose' in life as long as he or she as aware that it is just a coping strategy and has no reality beyond that. If I were to change my current idealist-theist (but non-'religious') views because of new and overwhelming evidence supporting materialism, the above is the mindset I would have to adopt as best I could.Charles Birch_{November 12, 2018
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--Our purposeless universe has become infused with local pockets of purpose, and this has happened through entirely natural, spontaneous processes.-- This is a statement of faith.tribune7_{November 11, 2018
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This is a wholly unsubstantiated assumption. Our purposeless universe has become infused with local pockets of purpose, and this has happened through entirely natural, spontaneous processes.
Oh good grief. These two sentences together. A trained psychiatrist wrote this, and is actually pleased to share it with others. Apparently anything whatsoever can pass for intelligent reasoning as long as it comes to the pop conclusion.Upright BiPed_{November 11, 2018
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If God does not exist, then is it not true that God does not exist?daveS_{November 11, 2018
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Even Nietzsche well understood the ramifications of this misguided view. If God does not exist, then there is no meaning of any kind, no basis for truth since there is no truth worth speaking of: "Where has God gone?" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning?OldArmy94_{November 11, 2018
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In the OP they claim:
People assume that our human sense of purpose is dependent on the universe having a purpose, and without such purpose they assume that life has no meaning. This is a wholly unsubstantiated assumption. Our purposeless universe,,,
The only wholly unsubstantiated assumption is his assumption that science somehow has proven the universe is purposeless. From the fine tuning of the universe for life, to the overturning of the Copernican principle by both general relativity and quantum mechanics, as far as science itself is concerned, the universe literally oozes purpose.
Atheistic Materialism vs Meaning, Value, and Purpose in Our Lives - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqUxBSbFhog
In his article, the psychiatrist also claimed that,
Depression does not discriminate between religious/spiritual people, who believe in a purposeful universe, and atheists, who do not.
That claim is false. Contrary to what the psychiatrist claimed, there is a tremendous difference in mental and physical health that is found between Atheists and Theists. As Professor Andrew Sims, former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, states, “The advantageous effect of religious belief and spirituality on mental and physical health is one of the best-kept secrets in psychiatry and medicine generally.”,,, “In the majority of studies, religious involvement is correlated with well-being, happiness and life satisfaction; hope and optimism; purpose and meaning in life;,,”
“I maintain that whatever else faith may be, it cannot be a delusion. The advantageous effect of religious belief and spirituality on mental and physical health is one of the best-kept secrets in psychiatry and medicine generally. If the findings of the huge volume of research on this topic had gone in the opposite direction and it had been found that religion damages your mental health, it would have been front-page news in every newspaper in the land.” - Professor Andrew Sims - preface “In the majority of studies, religious involvement is correlated with well-being, happiness and life satisfaction; hope and optimism; purpose and meaning in life; higher self-esteem; better adaptation to bereavement; greater social support and less loneliness; lower rates of depression and faster recovery from depression; lower rates of suicide and fewer positive attitudes towards suicide; less anxiety; less psychosis and fewer psychotic tendencies; lower rates of alcohol and drug use and abuse; less delinquency and criminal activity; greater marital stability and satisfaction… We concluded that for the vast majority of people the apparent benefits of devout belief and practice probably outweigh the risks.” - Professor Andrew Sims former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists - Is Faith Delusion?: Why religion is good for your health – page 100 https://books.google.com/books?id=PREdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100#v=onepage&q&f=false Lack of ultimate meaning in life associated with alcohol abuse, drug addiction and other mental health problems - August 2015 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150813092911.htm
In fact, in the following study it was found that, “those middle-aged adults who go to church, synagogues, mosques or other houses of worship reduce their mortality risk by 55%.”
Can attending church really help you live longer? This study says yes – June 1, 2017 Excerpt: Specifically, the study says those middle-aged adults who go to church, synagogues, mosques or other houses of worship reduce their mortality risk by 55%. The Plos One journal published the “Church Attendance, Allostatic Load and Mortality in Middle Aged Adults” study May 16. “For those who did not attend church at all, they were twice as likely to die prematurely than those who did who attended church at some point over the last year,” Bruce said. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/02/can-attending-church-really-help-you-live-longer-study-says-yes/364375001/ Study: Religiously affiliated people lived “9.45 and 5.64 years longer…” July 1, 2018 Excerpt: Self-reported religious service attendance has been linked with longevity. However, previous work has largely relied on self-report data and volunteer samples. Here, mention of a religious affiliation in obituaries was analyzed as an alternative measure of religiosity. In two samples (N = 505 from Des Moines, IA, and N = 1,096 from 42 U.S. cities), the religiously affiliated lived 9.45 and 5.64 years longer, respectively, than the nonreligiously affiliated. Additionally, social integration and volunteerism partially mediated the religion–longevity relation. https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/study-religiously-affiliated-people-lived-religiously-affiliated-lived-9-45-and-5-64-years-longer/ Can Religion Extend Your Life? - By Chuck Dinerstein — June 16, 2018 Excerpt: The researcher's regression analysis suggested that the effect of volunteering and participation accounted for 20% or 1 year of the impact, while religious affiliation accounted for the remaining four years or 80%. https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/06/16/can-religion-extend-your-life-13092 Atheism and health A meta-analysis of all studies, both published and unpublished, relating to religious involvement and longevity was carried out in 2000. Forty-two studies were included, involving some 126,000 subjects. Active religious involvement increased the chance of living longer by some 29%, and participation in public religious practices, such as church attendance, increased the chance of living longer by 43%.[4][5] per conservapedia
Thus, it is readily apparent that the Atheist's attempt to create illusory meaning and purposes for his life, minus belief in God and a afterlife, falls short in a rather dramatic fashion on both the mental and physical level. Verse and video:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Turin Shroud Hologram Reveals The Words "The Lamb" - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tmka1l8GAQ
Of related note, it is found that learning and reading about the afterlife and/or about Near Death Experiences is 'generally quite successful not only in reducing suicidal thoughts but also in preventing the deed altogether.,,,'
Knowledge of the afterlife deters suicide. Lessons From the Light by Kenneth Ring and Evelyn Elsaesser p.257-258: As far as I know, the first clinician to make use of NDE material in this context was a New York psychologist named John McDonagh. In 1979, he presented a paper at a psychological convention that described his success with several suicidal patients using a device he called “NDE bibliotherapy.” His “technique” was actually little more than having his patients read some relevant passages from Raymond Moody’s book, Reflections on Life after Life, after which the therapist and his patient would discuss its implications for the latter’s own situation. McDonagh reports that such an approach was generally quite successful not only in reducing suicidal thoughts but also in preventing the deed altogether.,,, Since McDonagh’s pioneering efforts, other clinicians knowledgeable about the NDE who have had the opportunity to counsel suicidal patients have also reported similar success. Perhaps the most notable of these therapists is Bruce Greyson, a psychiatrist now at the University of Virginia, whose specialty as a clinician has been suicidology. He is also the author of a classic paper on NDEs and suicide which the specialist may wish to consult for its therapeutic implications. (14) Quite apart from the clinicians who have developed this form of what we might call “NDE-assisted therapy,” I can draw upon my own personal experience here to provide additional evidence of how the NDE has helped to deter suicide. The following case,,, http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2015/03/video-lecture-by-john-lennox-explains.html
I found Dr. Mary Neal's NDE entirely credible:
Present: Mary Neal's Near Death Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63wY2fylJD0
bornagain77_{November 11, 2018
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Seversky
blockquoteThe question for the theists is that if God is the eternal and necessary – in the philosophical sense – being they claim, if He is, by definition, not contingent on anything else, entirely self-sufficient then why bother to create a Universe at all?
Seversky always asks good questions. He really probes. Anyway, the answer to the question is that love is effusive, it wants to give itself away. A loving God, therefore, wants to give rather than take, which explains his creative act. He doesn't need His creation because He is already a community of persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but his creation needs him.StephenB_{November 11, 2018
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tribune7, thanksPaoloV_{November 11, 2018
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Seversky: And given that He existed for an eternity before creating this Universe and will continue to exist for an eternity after why did He create this Universe when He did? I'm no philosopher but how can there be a "before" when time doesn't exist yet? But then, to correct myself, how can there be a "when" or a "yet" independent of time? (whoops caught myself almost saying "outside of") So Seversky remember when I linked to the scholarly books on mystical and religious experience instigated by psychedelics and you came back with the often repeated contention by A-mats that maybe the experiences are due to out-of-control electrical activity in the brain? So my answer at that time would have been very pat: That the experiences occasionally elicited by psychedelic usage occasionally will parallel astoundingly those described throughout history by various mystics, saints and sages. So that you would have to make the sme assertion abou what was happening in their brains. And those experiences with psychedelics can involve encounters with powerful spirits and demigods sometimes with historical context or identification. Well the answer is not so pat because as it turns out, people who have seizures, myself included, have those experiences during the so-called "aura". And because of my past experiences with other psychological mosed I would allow the experience without interruption and would typically visit purgatory and encounter disturbed souls. Strangely enough I would maintain a dual consciousness and had the confidence of complete control of my days activity including driving a car (but pull over) and this feeling of leaving the world was a repeated experience. Now before you guys think this is crazy you can read up on Dostoevsky and his seizures. His auras would give him the full blown mystical experience including ecstacy. He claimed that he would give up everything, fame, fortune, everything to be able to willfully enter this state. So it turns out chaotic neuronal discharges in the brain can themselves invoke mystical experiences. However those chaotic discarges have never been indicated in the psychedelic research.groovamos_{November 11, 2018
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