BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Atheist The Meaning of LIfe is Life, No More and No Less

Asha. Bill is with us. Thank You !!! I have to say that I am not an athiest, however I am meeting more and more of them and some are incredible people as are some religious!!! The mere fact that they have been driven out of the religious world changes nothing pertaining to their depth of character. The strength that it takes to make such a change without bitterness or contempt is worthy of recognition and is inspirational to me!!! dave

I came across this quote the other day as I was doing reseach on Clarence Darrow, a leading proponent of humanistic atheistic agnosticism who will be the subject of next week's article.

I feel as I always have, that the earth is the home and only home of man, and I am convinced that whatever he is to get out of his existence he must get while he is here.

He too believed that the meaning of life is life.
Darrow as one of America's most famous criminal defense lawyers in the early 20th century dedicated much of his life to being a "defender of lost causes" and an ardent advocate of civil rights. His life had an impact on others that has outlived his death. His life certainly had a meaning beyond just mortal existence. He was arrogant enough to believe that it would!

Who did you know whose life, whether a non-theist or theist,
had a positive mortal impact on others that lived on after they "ceased to exist?"

Bolivar comes to mind.

It is bs that we have no moral code. You don't need to have religious beliefs to be righteous. Do unto others as you would have done unto you was not something Jesus came up with. There are more people in the jail system that either are religious or hold a belief in a deity or sorts, then there ever have been atheist offenders. If that doesn't speak volumes about morals, I don't know what does.

Hi Amber and all,

Amber commented: There are more people in the jail system that either are religious or hold a belief in a deity or sorts, then there ever have been atheist offenders. If that doesn't speak volumes about morals, I don't know what does.


Amber, funny that you mentioned that because in that article I had considered remarking (ironically/sarcastically, of course) something similar to what you said regarding the vast majority of those who are incarcerated vis-a-vis their religious affiliations. There is plenty on the Internet to support such an assertion but I did not see any definitive study so I chose not to go in that direction. Yet, it looks like atheists make up about 1% of the US national prison population which makes them decidedly "under-represented."

The development of and adherence to moral codes is up to the individual (although family influence is indeed a variable), not other-imposed dogma.

As for those in prison (or committed crimes but were not caught and or convicted) with "religious convictions" do you think that they believe that those types of "sins" will be absolved on their path to "salvation."?

Les, I think it depends entirely on the individual, and how truly religious they are in regards to whether they believe their 'sins' will be absolved. I don't think that most give it that much thought to be honest, though I am sure that it crosses their mind at some point. To me, it's probably more like the modern day Christians or those who claim to be Christian or of faith, yet, do not practice the religion at all. They state they are of this or that faction, but in fact, it's in title only and really has no merit on their everyday life.