The world would be great and wonderful without religions.
The meaning of life at the biological level is 'eat, survive, reproduce'. These are the biological imperatives. But we humans also have a psychological dimension but at this level, there are no imperatives so we are free to invent our own 'meaning' to life, and that is exactly what most of us do.
Life existed long before religion, yet it somehow survived anyway.
Funny how that works, eh?
i'm a bit of a nihilist -
so i do not find there to be any inherent meaning in life.
i see meaning as something we add to our lives -
to help us form our direction as we move through it.
as a believer i was always searching, fearing, scrambling for what my meaning and purpose was -
what was i SUPPOSED to be doing...
as a non-believer and a survivor of the death of my only child, life is deeper, richer, brighter, darker, truer than it ever was before.
i live for both of us & even the mundane things of life seem louder, bigger, more sacred.
i DO believe in "sacred" -
without any religious connection.
life has become sacred - which, for me, is far deeper than "meaningful".
My sincere condolences for your loss. It’s incredibly brave of you to have come out of the other end of something like that with a lack of belief when profound loss so often propels people deeper into it.
Big hugs.....
sure, life is what you make of it. you can find meaning almost anywhere.
I don't think that religion has any bearing on whether life is meaningful or not.
Of course! Instead of meaning manufactured to please some imaginary being and gain entrance into an imaginary afterlife, we can find meaning in real things. I find meaning in Relationships, in activities that bring me joy, in doing work to make the world a better place.
Absolutely! I can be good without God. I don't need fear or threat of punishment to do good. I care about people and animals and the earth and try to do no harm. Nature is a wonder, amazing, awe inspiring.