Reason's Greetings

A common theme and emotion I run across on this campus is everyone’s need and desire for God. Jesus is the central role model of their life, and they find meaning in the thought of using the life they have now to prepare for an eternity of peace, love, and servitude to God in heaven. I remember feeling the same way; it is no surprise that they frequently front the perspective that the life of an atheist is meaningless and empty.

I’d like to reverse the question and pose it as an answer. How can you find meaning in this? If you live forever, then any action you take is arbitrary - you can easily decide to delay an action for a day, a year, or a century. Living forever is actually what is meaningless. The inherent nature of religion though clouds this reasoning. Usually from childhood, the religious have been told, repeated out loud, and convinced their minds (and mine used to be convinced to) that life is not worth living without God. Just like even in a moment of sadness, the sheer repetition of verbally saying “I am happy, I am happy, I am happy” etc. can convince the mind that it is actually happy and not sad, the repetition of the message behind religion can convince the mind that life is empty without the God they serve.

From this then, my life must seem empty indeed; this mind that has been unfortunate enough to be indoctrinated so deeply and so powerfully that God and an eternity of eternal bliss is the meaning of life, my lack of belief must seem like a dark and void life.

Not true. Never before have I felt a freer mind and a love for everyone around me. Meaning has life, not life has a meaning. As a religious believer, I did not feel the awe and the excitement and joy of uncovering the fabric of the cosmos. I did not appreciate fully the understanding of the power and deep philosophical meaning behind science, and the peace and contentment in understanding that I will die one day, yet life will continue beyond me was absent.

I have taken control of my life though, and I find a deep and unchanging peace behind studying the cosmos, the universe learning about itself, and enjoying and loving the people who are alive around me as I live right now. My mind truly feels awakened and unafraid of what lies in the future. I desire more than anything else to act in a way and spread my experience in such a way that it contributes to breaking the bonds that religion places firmly among the minds of children today.

You are NOT a broken, fallen human being. You are NOT immoral and hopeless without God. You do NOT need to fear the unknown or death. 

You ARE a beautiful, unique, and intelligent mind born in the stars. That we all have in common. We are a united humanity in our origins - we do not come from Abraham, or Ishmael, or entitled to land given to us as an inheritance from God. This land, the earth, IS our inheritance, and it is our gift from the stars. We are not dust returning to dust. We are stardust that is currently alive, breathing and experiencing itself before we are reunited to the cosmos in its basic forms of matter.

Atheism describes who I am not; scientist, mathematician, philosopher and Tumblr user with a message describes who I am.

From author to reader, one human being to another,

~Andy