Great atheists on the meaning & purpose of life

[Kamala Trump]

"Sartre believe that human existence is the result of chance or accident. There is no meaning or purpose of his life other than what his freedom creates , therefore, he must rely on his own resources."

https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Cont/ContBhan.htm#:~:text=Sartre believe that human existence,rely on his own resources.

Sartre seems to believe in a kind of ultimate freedom where we are free to make choices and choose our future based on individual experience completely independent of convention, expectation, or cultural coercion.

self reliance doesn't require nihilism as a precondition.

 

[Cypress]

Again I didnt make that claim but saying it seems to make you feel better and thats.reslly all that matters isn't it?

Too bad the left in America punishes such things.

You said in post 114 that anyone who Marx appealed to only cared about economics, not freedom.


I guarantee you, if you were working 12 hour shifts doing mind numbing repetitive and often dangerous tasks for a pittance salary, your mind would easily make the connection between economic exploration and personal freedom.

 

[Yakuda]

You said in post 114 that anyone who Marx appealed to only cared about economics, not freedom.


I guarantee you, if you were working 12 hour shifts doing mind numbing repetitive and often dangerous tasks for a pittance salary, your mind would easily make the connection between economic exploration and personal freedom.

Thats right they aren't directly connected

The mind makes all kinds of connections about all kinds of things. That's irrelevant.

 

[Kamala Trump]

You said in post 114 that anyone who Marx appealed to only cared about economics, not freedom.


I guarantee you, if you were working 12 hour shifts doing mind numbing repetitive and often dangerous tasks for a pittance salary, your mind would easily make the connection between economic exploration and personal freedom.

marxists are notoriously materialistic.

Dialectical materialism​

Dialectical materialism is a materialist theory based upon the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that has found widespread applications in a variety of philosophical disciplines ranging from philosophy of history to philosophy of science. Wikipedia


it's the premise of their belief system.

 

[Cypress]

marxists are notoriously materialistic.

Dialectical materialism​

Dialectical materialism is a materialist theory based upon the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that has found widespread applications in a variety of philosophical disciplines ranging from philosophy of history to philosophy of science. Wikipedia


it's the premise of their belief system.

Good frantic Googling. That has nothing to do with whether or not Marx is right that self fulfillment lies in having the freedom and mastery over one's own labor, creations, and initiative.

 

[Kamala Trump]

Good frantic Googling. That has nothing to do with whether or not Marx is right that self fulfillment lies in having the freedom and mastery over one's own labor, creations, and initiative.

so how did that lead up to Gulags?

see gulag archipelago, Alexander solzenhitsyn.

 

[Cypress]

so how did that lead up to Gulags?

see gulag archipelago, Alexander solzenhitsyn.

Marx never advocated a repressive totalitarian police state. Communism was supposed to ultimately result in no need for government at all.

Frantically Googling for 60 seconds isn't even remotely close to being a sufficient education on Marx.

The nature of alienation, the causes of alienation, and the solution to alienation is fundamental to any rudimentary grasp of Marx. And it comes down to whoever has mastery over labor, creation, and freedom.

 

[Kamala Trump]

Marx never advocated a repressive totalitarian police state. Communism was supposed to ultimately result in no need for government at all.

Hmm. sounds like extreme privatization, aka libertarianist stupidity.

 

[domer76]

see, you can't come to basic decent conclusions. you have made yourself retarded with moral relativistic satanic self-programming.

this is also why you're losing.

Derp is shorthand for “you’re a fucking moron”. File that away for future reference.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Karl Marx: Self fulfillment and meaning is achieved through the free exercise of an individual's creative powers through their labor and creations.

There is no one you love more than Marx.

 

[Uncensored2008]

A Rabbi is teaching his student the Talmud and explains god created everything in this world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.

The clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did god create them?”

The Rabbi responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all – the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone who is in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”

“This means” the Rabbi continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that god will help you.’ instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no god who can help, and say ‘I will help you.'”

Danger ahead - there are good reasons why God created atheists | The Rabbi Sacks Legacy

Read Danger ahead - there are good reasons why God created atheists from The Rabbi Sacks Legacy.

rabbisacks.org

Except the actual response of atheists is "let the government help you with taxes on my neighbor."

 

[Cypress]

There is no one you love more than Marx.

^^^ Another MAGA moron ignorant of Karl Marx, except for what Rush Limbaugh told them to believe.

Karl Marx despised liberals, hated democracy, and opposed the first liberal democratic socialist parties that formed in Germany. He thought liberal political parties were a danger to what he wanted, a proletariat revolution.

 

[PostmodernProphet]

You are obviously just repeating the ideas and words of somebody you found in a frantic google search.

Your aren't literate in koine Greek, which is the language the New Testament was written in, so you aren't entitled to complain about translations.

I've read both the New Testament and the Analects of Confucius. You're running your mouth about the Analects, a book you didn't even know existed until I mentioned it

Your confirmation bias is that Christianity is superior to every other religion and thought system in the world. So it's not surprising you are hostile to believing Eastern literature had a type of Golden Rule centuries before the authors of the Gospels wrote anything.

Scholars of Eastern wisdom almost universally agree that the Analects of Confucius articulates a type of Golden Rule. Your frantic google search and repeating of someone else's idea not withstanding.

If you want the question to be about which ancient literature was unique in an abiding concern for social justice, universal love, and the treatment of the poor, then I already beat you to the punch. Because I have a record of writing exactly that about the Judeo-Christian scriptures.

instead of proclaiming your superiority why not discuss the fact you claimed Confucius wrote something similar when he in fact didn't?.....

 

[PostmodernProphet]

Somebody who deliberately writes enraged, foul mouthed, and premeditated homicide and murder fantasies on a public message board is not a Christian

okay....so Gnosts are just as judgmental as atheists.......I won't argue with you on that........

 

[domer76]

see, you can't come to basic decent conclusions. you have made yourself retarded with moral relativistic satanic self-programming.

this is also why you're losing.

Derp

 

[Ross Dolan]

Judaism emphasizes action over belief. Discussions are essential to the goal of deciding what those actions should be.
Judaism begins with the 613 mitzvot (rules to live by), but does not end there. It says, “OK, we understand that we shouldn't work on Shabbat (the sabbath), but what qualifies as ‘work’?” One of the traditional answers is that lighting a fire is a form of work.
(That said, it would be a mistake to consider all this to be critical thinking in any logical or scientific sense. Living a life in accord with the mitzvot is the goal here; understanding the universe is not. Yet the habit of questioning can prepare the mind for more rigorous thought, and a Jew may become less religiously observant and more secular as a result.

1. Because of our theology, or more accurately our lack of it. In Christian thought, belief is all important. Merely by having an errant thought that God might not actually exist, or that Christ might not be his son, or any other thought that contradicted Church doctrine (like thinking that the earth revolved around the sun), you were committing a grave sin. Since we do not and cannot control what goes through our minds, Christians (until the modern era, and for fundamentalist sects until today) are constantly in danger of sinning every time they indulge in critical thought. We have no such problems, since for us we only sin by actually doing something, not merely thinking about it. Judaism is an action based religion, not a faith based one. We have no original sin, and no state of grace. We have life, and a set of rules, beliefs and values as how best to live it. These have evolved over time, as life and circumstances changed. but however we interpret those values and beliefs, its what we do that matters, not what we think or believe. The only belief required from us is not to believe in the existence of more than one God. In Christianity being an atheist is, in itself a mortal sin. In Judaism it would only be a sin if your reason for not believing in God is because you believe in two or more gods. Bottom line, for centuries Christians avoided critical thought, which easily led to sinning, which leads to guilt feelings, and if you were unlucky, to being burned at the stake. We have never had that problem.
2. Our history. Since Queen Salome Alexandra aka Shlomtzion (147–61 BCE) introduced compulsory education in Judea, Jews have had a high literacy rate. Whether in a Jewish state, or in the diaspora, literacy among Jewish males was always over 80%. No other Western society reached such levels until the modern age. Literacy promotes learning, which promotes critical thinking.
3. Our history. Since the final defeat and dissolution of Judea (135 CE), when the center of Jewish life moved to the diaspora, we lived by our skills. Any population that is highly skilled (relative to its time) is going to have a greater propensity for critical thought.

Super thesis, Guno. Sounds like your own work, but I've got to ask: Is it?

Another question if I may:

You wrote, "The only belief required from us is not to believe in the existence of more than one God. "

It seems to me that what we non-Jews refer to as The Old Testament posits that there ARE more than just one GOD, but that the ancient Hebrews were required to worship but one...the God of that Old Testament...not any of the others.

Any comments or clarifications about that?

 

[Guno צְבִי]

Super thesis, Guno. Sounds like your own work, but I've got to ask: Is it?

Another question if I may:

You wrote, "The only belief required from us is not to believe in the existence of more than one God. "

It seems to me that what we non-Jews refer to as The Old Testament posits that there ARE more than just one GOD, but that the ancient Hebrews were required to worship but one...the God of that Old Testament...not any of the others.

Any comments or clarifications about that?

It is mine , a synthesis of Judaism. One God , God is all , Nothing is outside of one God .
I am very involved in Jewish education and anti missionary activity.. Well Versed in Hebrew, Aramaic (The Torah's original text)

As an aside today is the 1st day of Shavuot
In 2024, Shavuot begins at sundown on Tuesday, June 11.

Shavuot, the feast of weeks, is celebrated seven weeks after the second Passover seder. Although Shavuot began as an ancient grain harvest festival, the holiday has been identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Shavuot 2024 | My Jewish Learning

In 2024, Shavuot begins at sunset on Tuesday, June 11 and ends at sundown on Thursday, June 13.What is Shavuot?Shavuot, the feast ...

www.myjewishlearning.com

Isaiah 45:​

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

 

[Ross Dolan]

It is mine , a synthesis of Judaism. One God , God is all , Nothing is outside of one God .
I am very involved in Jewish education and anti missionary activity.. Well Versed in Hebrew, Aramaic (The Torah's original text)

As an aside today is the 1st day of Shavuot
In 2024, Shavuot begins at sundown on Tuesday, June 11.

Shavuot, the feast of weeks, is celebrated seven weeks after the second Passover seder. Although Shavuot began as an ancient grain harvest festival, the holiday has been identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Shavuot 2024 | My Jewish Learning

In 2024, Shavuot begins at sunset on Tuesday, June 11 and ends at sundown on Thursday, June 13.What is Shavuot?Shavuot, the feast ...

www.myjewishlearning.com

Isaiah 45:​

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

When I was a Christian, I always acknowledged that the God of the Old Testament was THE God of the New Testament, although I came to understand that Jews are of a different opinion. Be that as it may...my reading of the Old Testament (and I have a Jewish version of the Old Testament) does not truly show it to be monotheistic. The God of the Old Testament often mentions "other gods" and, in fact, prohibits ancient Hebrews from worshiping any of those Gods.

The wording in (for instance) [Deuteronomy 13:7-12] and [Deuteronomy 13:13-19] seems to indicate other Gods in existence.

Where am I on the wrong path on this issue?

 

[Uncensored2008]

^^^ Another MAGA moron ignorant of Karl Marx, except for what Rush Limbaugh told them to believe.

I've read Capitol Vol. 1 and Manifesto.

You? Not so much.

Karl Marx despised liberals, hated democracy, and opposed the first liberal democratic socialist parties that formed in Germany. He thought liberal political parties were a danger to what he wanted, a proletariat revolution.

Sounds a lot like Joe Biden.

Marx hated real liberals - those like me, as do you. He is the spiritual leader of the radical left, the Wokesters who are the democrats.

 

[Cypress]

instead of proclaiming your superiority why not discuss the fact you claimed Confucius wrote something similar when he in fact didn't?.....

I don't think I am actually debating you,
I'm debating the guy that wrote on the website you frantically Googled.

So you are going to have to give me the link to the website that is putting these ideas in your head, for my investigation.


My copy of the Analects of Confucius has this translation:

Tseng-kung asked, "Is there not one word that may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" The Master said, "Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do onto others."

-Analects XV:23

Reciprocity is a fundamental belief in Confucian thought. You can quibble until the cows come home about the grammatical structure of this teaching, but the very simple fact is if you showed Analects XV:23 to anyone on the street, they would instantly find it recognizably similar to the Golden Rule in Gospel of Matthew written 500 years later.