Is it normal to ask ...what is the purpose of living if you are an atheist ?

On the scientific level, you are alive to survive and reproduce. You are born with the instinct to live and continue your species.

On the personal level, some believe that there is no meaning. Others believe that the meaning of life is what you make of it. In other words, you determine what you feel is your personal purpose and goal. To some people, it's to better the world, to others, it is to improve upon their weaknesses and grow as human beings.

I am an atheist. I live for love.

As someone who's never had any form of God in their life, it's so weird for me to hear someone say what's the point in you living if you don't believe in a God.

I don't need a God to have a purpose in my life. I have ambitions and dreams and hopes and those are the purpose in my life. To have a happy life. To do what I want, to be free, to have a family and be healthy and loads of other things. Believing in a God has no part in that, these are just things that every human strives for in their life, regardless of whatever religion they believe in.

There is absolutely no point in life. Whatever you believe will not change the fact that in roughly five and a half billion years our sun will turn into a red giant and destroy this planet. Everything that has ever occurred or existed will not make a slightest bit of difference. I actually personally believe human extinction will happen within the next 2,000 years.

There is no built-in purpose. There are instincts that make you want to live on and that can make life feel worthwhile.

What leads me forward in life is my will to lern and live out the human experience. The fact that I have a limited amount of time on this earth and so I want to take in as much of it as I can. I also want to help others in need and make their human experience a happy one as well, wich is why I do a lot of fund raising and voluntary work. I want to do good simply for the sake of dooing good. I have never felt the need for a repaiment nor in this live or (back when I was a christian) in the next. Self improvement has always been important to me, and helping others improve their lives is simply an extention of that.
I like to think of it this way, mankind in the course of it's history, has slowly improived it self, may it be scientificly, moraly, politically, tecnologicly ecc. (otherwhise we would still be living in caves) I see my life and everyone elses as a smaller replica of this, and by sharing my imput and helping others with theirs, I contribute to this moving-forward.
We don't have a purpose from birth and we are certenatly not given one, we each have to find it. we must each serch for our goals. Mine is to become an artist, and travel alot.

Personaly I have always considered the concept of God to be a justification of good not an explanation.

As many have said, the 'purpose' of life is to survive, reproduce and continue our species for as long as we can. Apart from that basic instinct there is no actual meaning or purpose to life. I believe life (not just for humans) is a random occurrence that has absolutely not higher meaning or purpose.

Just because some people only live for their God or something doesn't mean everyone does. People live for many things - to achieve their dreams, for their family, friends or anything. Personally I don't think I have purpose of living right now but I'm sure I'll find it later.

What is the purpose of living if you are a Baptist? Or a Mormon? Or a Jew? Or a monkey? Or a glass of water?

To pass on your genetic material to the next generation. Evolutionarily speaking. God is just a crutch to excuse the fact that breeding is the only way anything we do matters

Read some Sartre, he covered this in great depth...

It varies from person to person, and there's no universal goal or source for a goal.

Possible answers are: "to learn more about the world (through science)", "to help more people (either friends and family or humanity)", "to survive because instinct tells us to", "to leave something behind", "to see what the future holds (in terms of technology)". There are also short-term goals, "nicer car", "nicer house", "better job" etc. Some people probably drift through life content without goals.

I think individual people gravitate towards one goal over the others sort of... instinctually? It's just something in their personality, and it's as inescapable as anything else in their personality is. Like, I have a very strong desire to help people and that is such a big part of my personality I can barely imagine what it would be like not to feel that. It's just there, I don't even think about where it came from. A part of my mind has latched onto it and can't let go even if it wanted to. It's a bit like the Constitution of a country; a set of vague "rules to live by" put in place by yourself because you actually feel a desire to follow them, not because you have to.

That's just how goals feels to me, anyway. Other people could feel completely differently about all this stuff, and I assuming they feel the exact same as me would be foolish :P I'm also getting dangerously close to describing "destiny" (a word I hate) without intending to (which it isn't, because people have the capacity to resent their "destiny" but I don't think people can hate the goals they set themselves), which makes me think my description isn't good.

It could be something genetic, something influenced by my childhood, something caused by hormones in my brain. It's something that's too difficult to quantify and thus difficult to test in a scientific way. It's probably a combination of those factors and more. It could be caused by God, although as an atheist obviously I wouldn't believe that.

EDIT: Maybe I'll come back to this later; I don't feel like I've exhausted myself on this :P

EDIT: By the way, I'm using words like "goal" and "purpose" interchangeably, even though I know "goal" isn't really the right word for what I'm saying because all goals have a way to score them, but purposes don't. Just pretend I've said "purpose", if that's easier :P

I'm a practicing Roman Catholic and I love this question; it's brilliant!

As far as I'm concerned the point of life is to know, love and serve God so we can go to Heaven and be with him for eternity.

I really like atheists they give me the reason to believe !! in God :-D

Most people think finding your life purpose means doing something you truly love. It's an area that just seems natural to you and things just seem to fall into place. But what if things aren't so clear for you? What if you're not sure what your gifts are? What if you haven't discovered any particular talent that makes you think it could be your true calling in life? Or what if you're working somewhere and you're good at it, but you just don't feel fulfilled? Is this all there is for you?

Don't panic. You're not alone. There are lots of people in the same boat. Take a look at the disciples. Now, there's a diverse group. Before Jesus came on the scene, they were fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, etc. They must have been good at what they were doing because they were feeding their families and making a living.

But then they met Jesus, and their true calling came into focus very quickly. What the disciples didn't know is that God wanted them to be happy—even more than they did. And following God's plan for their lives made them happy inside, where it really matters. What a concept, huh?

Do you suppose it could be true for you too? That God wants you to be truly happy and fulfilled even more than you do?

PS: I'm a Christian.

Religion has nothing to do with a sense of purpose. People are born with instincts and by living they have a purpose in this life.

There is no "purpose" in life. You are what you perceive yourself to be. When you die you will only live in memories of those you had touched. And very soon they too will die and be forgotten. We are a race that has proven to strive for future, but no present. It's saddening really.

Anyways, staying on topic. Religion is pointless so I enjoy my time here on Earth while I can. I don't need a coping mechanism to find peace or feel meaningful in this life.

Honestly, I think some people should seek therapy instead of religion. But hey, my words are only as heavy as you make them. So hopefully they're heavy enough for me to pick up and throw at your stupid face.

*sigh.

It's a good question, I don't think it's offensive:). I'd probably ask it, although I am an atheist, so I don't really need to:P.

I personally don't see life as having much purpose, but I think people give it some sort of purpose (because the alternative can be pretty depressing). I think a lot of people turn to religion to find purpose, although how would I know?:P For some reason, religion just doesn't work for me and I can't *genuinely* believe that there is a God or an afterlife or any of that sort of thing.

I do actually think I have given my life purpose in other ways, though. The way I see it is, is that my life is temporary, and really very short. I can't really escape that, or escape feeling like that, so I guess I place a lot of importance in things that are more...enduring? Like Earth, I guess (which probably makes me sound like a hippie, but whatever:P).

I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to word, because it's a fairly simple point:P. Basically, I think a lot of people find happiness in leaving something good behind, and making things better. So even after they're gone, they've been partly responsible for making something good continue, I guess. Like the world is a little bit better after you've left it. Maybe some sort of attempt to feel like even after you're gone, your influence is still alive? Like some sort of legacy, even though it's a very small one. Does that make sense:P? I'm sure someone could do a much better job of wording this than I have. I'm not even sure if that answers your question, to be honest. Sorry.:P

There is no 'out there out there' kind of God... I think that WE are God, We are the ones who makes things happen. If you want to be biblical... as jesus said... 'heaven is a place smaller than the mustard seed' its because it is in our mind,god is in our mind. I'm not being negative saying he doesn't exist because miracles can and do happen but its the power of our mind and intentions that make these things materialize... anyhoo thats what I believe!!

its all shit anyway life is what you make of it and you only have one life when you die you are dead no fairytale story in a book makes any difference.

To suck my dick

I'm an atheist, and the meaning of your life is anything you want it to be! Or maybe it is 42. Who knows.

Totally normal for baptists to question an atheist's purpose in life. Baptist is a very insular denomination and many of its followers are 100% myopic. So kudos to the OP for taking the time to acknowledge that people of other faiths and non-faiths actually exist.

Objectively and literally speaking, the purpose of life is to live. To the individual, purpose is entirely subjective. I was raised Christian and studied religion in college. But it wasn't until I shed my religious faith that I truly began to search for purpose in life. The notion that Jesus leads you anywhere is an illusion. Your faith can lead you if you let it. I just learned to put faith in myself since prayer is nothing more than a glorified version of talking to yourself.

Purpose is not something you find arbitrarily through some deity and/or set of rules. Purpose, much like wisdom, comes with knowledge and experience. That's not to say all religious people have a phony purpose in life or that only atheists/agnostics can appreciate the concept of purpose, but I certainly view religion and other faith-based ideologies as speed bumps rather than fast lanes on the road to truth.

clarity

Well I am Christian and I still believe we have no purpose. Truthfully I should have died at birth but I didn't a doctor saved me. I honestly believe that it would have been better if I had died given all the grief it has given my parents. I believe our purpose to help better humanity. If we have not done this we have no purpose. If we do not serve the greater good we are useless and do not deserve to live on this planet. Living in such a world is maddening. So many flaws that only the higher ups can solve. Yet since most of those on top tend to be idiots it really does us no good at all.