The cause

The mind needs a cause to attach itself to, otherwise it descents into Nihilism. If one looks at atheism too deeply life becomes to begin to be pointless.

Intelligent christian males, gifted with science, cling to Christianity because they view it as opposite to modernity - Moderns with no moral values. They view Christianity as the cause, the last bastion of purpose and meaning to their life.

Kevin Solway’s cause is to bash religion. People who preach against attachment is suffering…That is the cause, to preach against attachment. They themselves are attached to the cause.

It is no coincidence that all ancient societies even pagans endorsed some kind of gods or religion. The human mind needs eternity to give itself weight and purpose. Otherwise, it begins to jump past the atmosphere, into the outer voids, possibly losing all gravity and attachment to everything. The human mind needs to look forward to an eternity of bliss…Because if it starts to believe that Earth is all there is, a bunch of reincarnations into random bodies, mix of suffering and pleasure, art and food merely meant to sustain itself, with no real goal, no real salvation or purpose, it starts to detangle and lose all sense of purpose.

Trixi,

Are you familiar with Prager University? It is a conservative YouTube channel that is on the right about almost every issue. Prager U is very Christian, almost to a fault. There are some similarities between what you just typed and some of Dennis Prager’s videos. Regardless of your politics, I think you’ll enjoy this.

Okay, I tried to look up the video but for some reason I cannot find it. Something that you said and something that Prager U said was very similar. That the lack of attachments causes suffering and having attachments alleviates suffering.

Anyways, I hope you take a look at some of their videos, if you haven’t so already. As someone who takes in account both science and faith I agree with about half of what Prager says about religion.

The statement that “attachment causes suffering” or “non attachment causes suffering” is a half statement. It’s like saying “an icecube causes suffering”. Its not wrong enough to be wrong, nor right enough to be right. If put an icecube in a lemonade it is not suffering, if I put an icecube on my front teeth it is suffering. If you are attached to something negative, like unrequited love, attachment is suffering, but if you are attached to something positive, like a good meal, it is not suffering. I’d prefer not to watch videos of religious idiots, my time on the internet is limited.

That’s fine. It was just a suggestion. Your main point seemed to be that non-belief causes nihilism and Prager has multiple videos saying the same thing, and more. What you do with your time is not up to me, it was just a suggestion.

That is one of the most fundamentally critical principles of the human race - a heart felt goal or purpose is required.

And that is the purpose of atheism.

You got it.

Atheism does not have a purpose

It is simply the non acceptance of a truth claim with regard to a specific type of entity

One can have a cause and still be a nihilist and so the two are not incompatible

Where nihilism is defined as there being no objective meaning to life which then allows for subjective meaning instead

Yes, and there is some ocean front property in Nevada that you should look into.

I like that original post. (I’ve never said that before.)

It’s a handy summation of the problem. Another way of saying we need to worship something. More accurately, we do, always, worship something.

If not God, something else. As you chew through all the possible things to worship, money, beauty,art, knowledge, love, connection, courage, eventually you worship nihilism, or you bathe in the pain of it and call it the capital T truth, which is a form of worship.

If you continue to choose to live it’s perhaps best to spend your time crafting good reasons to do so instead of brash lyric prose about the problem.

Sam Harris is non religious but tried to address this gravity problem in his book, Waking Up. If it doesn’t hold compelling ideas for you and you raise objections it might be a catalyst to point you toward the next plateau of your existential journey.

For me it’s about loyalty. I can’t abandon the people in my life and flee toward Lady Nihilism’s cold embrace. I have empathy and a sense of obligation. After all, there’s a chance others actually exist. So we play the odds. I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone; I feel their pain. This is true whether they exist or not. There’s something in me that cares without even trying. I suppose that’s what I worship, and I hope it never foresakes me, whatever it is. Maybe a thought, a bundle of neurons, a neurochemical, an idea, who knows.

Whatever it is, it’s all that stands between me and the abyss. It deserves my respect. It deserves my heart and soul. It is the ultimate cause.

Reason being is, the human brain has to focus on things. It needs a target of focus to exercise its neurons.

We are all feminine souls.

That is more of what religion is about than anything, although most call it “devoted love”.

Or masculine heels.

Religion is as gay as it gets.

Drive past a van that says Come To Jesus and on the side of it says “God Loves You”.

“Reason being is, the human brain has to focus on things. It needs a target of focus to exercise its neurons.”

The neuronal activity can be its own focus, like a mirror, which is the crux of the final existential challenge of being human and alone. But we are not only talking about the verb “focus.” We are talking about ascribing or recognizing the highest source of meaning and value, which is a creative act. The problem is we will always decide which meaning is the highest, and we will almost always be wrong. There is no perfect object of worship but we must worship nonetheless. God is a creation designed to give us something permanent to worship. It makes a lot of sense to do that. I wish I could. Instead I worship certain conventions. Family. Health. Entertainment. Art. Science. Sports. I worship AOL channels essentially.