When you are getting older, it is probably normal that you think more about ‘existential’ questions regarding Life and Death…:-)<\/p>\n
My background is (Protestant) Christian, but already during my student days I lost my faith. For many years I called myself an agnostic, but during the last decade I became more and more interested, reading a lot (Daniel Dennett<\/a>, Richard Dawkins<\/a>, Christopher Hitchens<\/a>) and I became a staunch atheist<\/span>.<\/p>\n Actually I try to avoid the word atheist, because it raises aggression in many people.<\/p>\n So I call myself a secular humanist<\/span>.\u00a0The god of the Abrahamic religions does not exist, he (she?) is a human construct, a meme. I do not believe in an immortal soul or in an afterlife. This life is the only one I have. When my body dies, my mind will be no more, it will be the end of my “I”.<\/p>\n Life is without meaning. It developed on Earth, 3.8 billion year ago, probably only once. Everything that is alive now, is offspring from this common ancestor. There has been an era of the dinosaurs, now we live in the era of homo sapiens, the next era may be dominated by insects. Let’s not overestimate our importance.<\/p>\n Has\u00a0my<\/span><\/em> life a meaning? That is a different question and I think the answer is yes. We are social animals and can only survive in a group. Our relation with this group (family, friends, society) gives meaning to our life.<\/p>\n Recently I came across an impressive letter about these topics, written in 1931 by the American journalist and writer H.L. Mencken . The full text can be found here <\/a>, where also background information is given.<\/p>\n The letter ends with:<\/p>\n I do not believe in immortality, and have no desire for it.<\/span> The belief in it issues from the puerile egos of inferior men. In its Christian form it is little more than a device for getting revenge upon those who are having a better time on this earth. What the meaning of human life may be I don\u2019t know: I incline to suspect that it has none.<\/span> All I know about it is that, to me at least, it is very amusing while it lasts. Even its troubles, indeed, can be amusing. Moreover, they tend to foster the human qualities that I admire most\u2014courage and its analogues. The noblest man, I think, is that one who fights God, and triumphs over Him. I have had little of this to do. When I die I shall be content to vanish into nothingness.<\/span> No show, however good, could conceivably be good for ever.<\/em><\/p>\n Well said!<\/p>\n This will not be my last post about religion\/philosophy and related matters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you are getting older, it is probably normal that you think more about ‘existential’ questions regarding Life and Death…:-) Is there an Afterlife? Do we have an Immortal Soul? Has (my) Life a Meaning? My background is (Protestant) Christian, … Continue reading