Do You Need God for Life Purpose?

[rug]

February 8, 2016
By Gleb Tsipursky

Imagine the following scenario: You have been raised in a deeply evangelical household. From an early age, your parents taught you to pray daily and told you that the purpose and meaning of life were found in God. Attending Sunday school reinforced this message. So did the television that your family watched, the books that they gave you to read, and the music to which they encouraged you to listen to.

You grew up in this environment throughout your early teenage years, attending a religious elementary and junior high school. Then, you went off to a local high school, because your parents could not afford a religious high school. There, you met an environment that challenged your beliefs that the purpose and meaning in life were to be found only in God. You started to question and doubt. You wanted to explore more broadly, but were afraid of losing your sense of purpose and meaning in life.

This is the story of many students that I have taught as a professor, as well as for those who have come to Intentional Insights presentations on “Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life.” They were deeply confused about meaning and purpose in life, questioning what it is all about. They are wise to do so, as research shows that having a clear answer to the question of life meaning and purpose can greatly improve our mental wellbeing. This questioning correlates with the growing number of “nones,” people without any religious affiliation in American society, especially among younger adults. Many Nones, and young people in general, are seeking for answers that don’t necessarily include a God as part of the equation. Recently, several books have explored this possibility, that of having life meaning and purpose or a sense of spirituality without God, as part of the public conversation.

So what does research on this issue show? Apparently, the important thing is simply to gain a sense of life purpose and meaning: the source of the purpose itself is not so important. Religion can be one among many channels to help someone gain a sense of life meaning. The pioneer in this field, Victor Frankl, was a Viennese psychiatrist who lived through the Holocaust concentration camps. In his research and work, both in the camps and afterward in private practice, he found that the crucial thing for individuals surviving and thriving in life is to develop a personal sense of purpose and meaning, what he terms the “will-to-meaning.” His work correlates with the philosophical position of existentialism, the idea that the source of life meaning and purpose lies within ourselves as individuals. There are many paths to do so. For example, Frankl helped people find purpose and meaning in life through helping others to remember their joys, sorrows, sacrifices, and blessings, and thereby bring to mind the meaningfulness of their lives as already lived

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularspectrum/2016/02/do-you-need-god-for-life-purpose/#sthash.Pk2h0Tqj.dpuf

[OkSustainAg]

1. I would have to say No.

Being very outside and building things and digging in the dirt, growing things. Then sharing with those around me. Sitting around my big table with those people. Instills me with a fulfillment nothing else has ever done. I not seeking any afterlife or cosmic recognition.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. No. Next question.

[Wraith20878]

3. I don't think so

I grew up religious but drifted away as I got older. The way I see it, this is the only life I have, and while that makes everything finite, it also makes everything in it it much more precious, precisely because it won't last forever.

My purpose in life has been to try to better myself and help others. I make it a point to try to learn new skills and try new things. Have new experiences, learn new things. I also try to do volunteer and charity work when I can to help those around me.

If life is ultimately meaningless, and we're all going to die anyway, might as well make eachother's lives enjoyable and worthwhile in the meantime.