An attempt to attach human values such as meaning and purpose to what is actually an immense and indifferent universe. Our sun is but one of billions in a galaxy of trillions of other suns in a universe of trillions of other galaxies. From a cosmic perspective we humans are of no more significance than the trillions of microorganisms that are dwelling in your large intestine. I know all of this must sound awfully harsh and uncomfortable and it certainly contradicts most religious traditions which place humans at the center of the universe. But these traditions give us (as humans) an importance that we, if one knows a little science, in no way merit. In the vastness of space there may very well be entities whose intelligence is to humans as ours is to a cockroach. Despite what most of us have been taught, we are not at all important on a cosmic scale. Astrophysicists ultimately know better than anyone else, that which is and how things really work and originate are usually atheists. It seems the more one knows about nature and origins, the less the need for gods, especially the obviously mythological ones of the Religions of Abraham. But this realistic perspective, as uncomfortable as it makes many, is what the evidence clearly indicates. This does not mean that our lives have no meaning or that everything is futile and that we will inevitably drift into chaos and nihilism. This is what most Christians tell me atheism entails yet the opposite is true. Think about it. If there is no god and this short warm moment is all our lives will ever be, then our lives can and should be fraught with meaning and importance. Far more so than if there were a god or eternal life. It behooves us to live and love as fully and empathetically as we are capable of doing. There is no god to blame or trust, no eternity to get it right. This is it my friend. Your life is in your own hands. And that is the most precious gift imaginable.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 12:20:41 +0000
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