People with Asperger's less likely to see purpose...

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I resent the idea that us Atheists find no meaning in life. We can and do, but we don't derive it from the supernatural. We find meaning in the things we do and in the world around us. I find a lot of meaning in my life, but I don't think there is a supernatural reason for it. I don't need a god to justify my existence.

I think the tendency of people to see the working of a higher power in their lives is something of a defense mechanism for dealing with the scary uncertainties of life - if something happens to them because it was "meant to be," it means that someone or something (God, fate) is exerting influence over what happens to them in this world. If you believe you are a good person, and are thus in favor with God, and that God exerts influence over the events in your life, then you have some assurance that it will all work out in the end, regardless of how rocky and bumpy the road is, since God will make sure of it.

I would describe myself as an agnostic with a leaning toward atheism. I think that die-hard atheists' assertion that there can not possibly be a God is as logically flawed as highly religious folks' assertion that there must be a God. The whole point of God is that nobody can prove his existence one way or another - if you could prove that God does exist (and an eternal afterlife exists), everyone with half a brain would act morally well all the time, certain of their rewards in the end, and if you could prove that God doesn't exist (and that there are no consequences for our actions other than those meted out in this life), well, I think we might have some trouble in the world (so maybe God is an important mechanism for keeping human nature in check) That being said, I personally lean toward the belief that there is no God, as I think the evidence suggests that it is much more likely that man created God, rather than the other way around.


"What I can't get an answer for from people that believe that things 'happen for a reason' is that when small children get and die from something like cancer, what was the purpose of that? Or when a kidnapper rapes and kills a child, where's the meaning?" (quoted from serenity's post)

I love the line "Well, God works in mysterious ways" as the religious person's response to others pointing out the logical discrepancies in assuming that all things happen for a reason

I agree with what most in this thread have said.


I don't believe in any "purpose", god, "higher power" (<not in the conscious/spiritual sense at least) "good", "evil" or anything of
the kind.

I despise this worldview however, but there's really nothing I can do
about it.

For me to deny it would be akin to me denying the reality of the holocaust
simply because I think it was an unspeakably horrible event.

And existence is an unspeakably horrible event...at least for an
untold number of humans and countless other lifeforms.

Anything else I could say on this whole matter would be nothing more
than stating the obvious and preaching to the choir.

The fact that there is a scientific explanation for everything is possible, if not probable.....

And despite being very scientifically minded, I am willing to concede that I like the mystery of NOT knowing.......and believe that my spirit cannot be logically explained. My spirit is what endures, my spirit is what gives me courage, my spirit loves me unconditionally and without judgement. I don't think that there is a test or experiment to prove or disprove the existence of "spirit". I just AM.

Mics

Aspies are usually reasonable and knowledgable people. And reason and knowledge are the cure of superstitious ideas, so...

There are slogans about purpose like:

Better and Better

Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.

- E. Coue

When coupled with a career in the workforce, a 40 hour plus work week, that slogan has meaning.

Science is religion with the words changed around

There is a God. You might call it the universe. Its probably bigger than that though. It is a thinking and feeling being. It must think and feel because we think and feel and we are a product of it. Bad things happen because they have to happen. If they did not happen nothing would change. Why does that matter? It sucks when it happens to you and all that but who cares? Its just life, and growth doesn't happen without death.