What is the Meaning of Life?

Cliché yet extremely relevant.

Something to get you thinking

The meaning of life as told by a 9-year-old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

SvMiXk2gGSk

What is the meaning of life?

This question may be cliché but it certainly applies to everyone!

People can not help but be fascinated by this question and have interpreted it for thousands of years in many different ways by using religion, worshiping gods and goddesses or maybe even with no such thing at all.

How it all started…This question has always

been in the back of my mind but I really started to think about it more in depth about a year ago….

My views growing up: I grew up Christian, I went to Catholic school from

kindergarten to 8th grade. I was very comfortable with my faith and felt close to

God. I went to a public high school and started to see what it

was like to live without religion around you all of the time.

Also while I was in high school my best friend passed away suddenly in an accident and I have to say this made me start to think a whole lot more about life. It was the start to my shift in religious beliefs but only within the past year have they changed notably (6 years later).

I want to know! Right now I’m very confused about my

beliefs on the meaning of life and do not really know what to believe.

What I want to know is “What is the meaning of life?” is it preparation for the afterlife or our next lives?

Is it simply what we like to do or what brings us joy?

A combination of these elements? Is there something more or is this it?

Religion There are many people who practice religion

in the world. In fact according to a new study entitled

“The Global Religious Landscape” 84% of the world’s population claims to be affiliated with a religion. (The Pew Forum)

According to a case study done by psychologist on the meaning of life and the link between religion and well being their results indicated “religious persons’ greater sense of meaning is in turn associated with greater positive regard for their lives and selves.” (Steger & Frazier)

The Focus I am going to place my focus on Christianity,

Atheism, and Agnosticism because those are the beliefs I have been on the fence about the most and am most interested in.

Christianity The world’s largest religious group is currently Christianity, 32% of the

world’s population is Christian. (The Pew Forum) What it is based on:

The teachings of Jesus Christ including the 10 commandments and their book of faith called The Bible which is considered to be the main source of information on Jesus’ life.

Basic Rituals and Practices: Bible study, prayer (both public and private0, mass on every Sunday,

sacraments like Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Last Rights.

There are many branches of Christianity so these practices may vary slightly Scared Days:

These include Easter, Christmas, and many others based on events in Jesus’ life.

(religionfacts.com)

Christianity (cont.) Beliefs of the afterlife:

They believe in heaven. They try to get to heaven by living as Jesus did and asking for forgiveness of their sins.

Some Christians believe in hell but not all branches of the religion do. Some believe in purgatory as well. Some believe the devil will always try to tempt you to do things that go

against God and that you must resist him. For a Christian a significant thing that plays a role in the meaning

of their lives is living as Jesus taught we should. Many try and live by the phrase “WWDJ” or “What would Jesus

do?” Jesus mainly taught us to forgive all and love everyone and treat

them well, even our enemies and sinners.

Well Known Jesus Quotes

These quotes summarize the belief of a Christian very well:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” – Matthew 7:7,8

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

“Love thy neighbor as thyself.” – Mark 12:31

Christian View From this information we can concur that in general

a Christian will be likely to say what brings meaning to their lives is to live in ways of compassion, love, and forgiveness that Jesus Christ spoke of.

They do this because they want to make the world a more loving and forgiving place.

They also believe if they do they will be joined with God and Jesus in heaven to live in paradise with their loved ones once they die.

Many Christians would agree that their faith gives meaning and happiness to their lives. The case study by

Atheism & Agnosticism Atheists do no believe there is a God (atheism literally

meaning without a God) but this does not mean they do not believe in an afterlife although some may not. The general term for those who do not believe in a higher power is this term.

Agnostics are sort of indifferent to the idea of a God. They don’t believe you can prove it nor do they believe you can disprove it.

Just because these beliefs are doubtful of the existence of a God does not mean all atheists and agnostics are depressed and lost in their lives as many religious people would imagine.

(University of Cambridge)

A Happy Atheist Here is perfect example of how one Atheist

finds meaning in his life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bcMmnZo9o

Another Famous Atheist

One self proclaimed famous atheist is the singer song-writer Dave Matthews. He once compared the idea of God was “more irritating than Santa Claus”.

(Graham) He often writes of his beliefs in his songs the perfect example would be the

song “Don’t Burn the Pig”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUlHcehNRPQ The song basically states that we need to live for today because there may not

be an after life. We need to make today our heaven and stop living by the “tired notion that the best is yet to come”.

He also says how some religions make us believe we need to ask for more like Christianity does (“ask and you shall receive”). He believes we should not worry about having more and be happy with what we have.

He also states we need to love! He says love is needed which is interesting because Christianity emphasizes love as well.

My Survey I based my survey on questions about the meaning of life and some on the

idea that life is meaningless that Richard Taylor writes about in the reading that we did in class.

Notable responses: 60% of responders were religious Most popular value in life was family by a landslide 88% of people said they would be extremely devastated and emotionally damaged

if they lost their most valued thing in life 76% believe everything is interconnected and worked in a cycle 56% believe this cycle has meaning 88% generally agree with the statement “everything happens for a reason” 85% said that they disagree that life is a meaningless cycle

In conclusion I found most people are religious, value family the most, care deeply about what they value, and seem to believe there is indeed a meaning to this repetitive cycle of life.

Famous Words of Mom & Dad

After interviewing my parents I would like to post some good points that they made that are different in their views:

“If there is an afterlife, great. But there is no afterlife why shouldn’t we enjoy what we have now? It may not matter in the end but why wouldn’t you enjoy your life and do what makes you happy” – Dan Caluori

“I believe there is a God and I believe there is more to this life. If there is no greater meaning then why do we have so many emotions? Why do we love? I see God in everything.” –Helena Caluori

My Conclusion In conclusion I would say I am still on the fence about my beliefs on the

meaning of life but I am a little more confident in them. I noticed that Christians and Atheists both want to be happy and live

meaningful lives regardless of whether or not they believe there is an after life.

The majority of people on this earth want to do well and be happy! It is actually sort of heart warming to know this.

It is even stated in our text book “The Little Philosophy Book” states that “the most obvious suggestion” is that a meaningful life is a happy life.

What brings happiness varies from person to person so I believe that there are many specific meanings to someone’s life but in the end as long as it is happy it is meaningful.

Conclusion (cont.) Thinking about the meaning of life and the possibility

that there is nothing after this life has caused me stress and depression.

However who is to say that an afterlife defines the meaning of life. We all touch lives in some way and after we are gone we will be thought of. Isn’t this meaningful in itself? To me it is!

Also, how could this life truly be meaningless if we have emotions and preferences? We are not mindless zombies, we are humans who long for happiness and purpose so why shouldn’t we chose a meaning for our lives? Who says we can’t say our family brings us meaning? No one!

To sum it up… A quote that sums up my conclusion that is often

misattributed to Marcus Aurelius is: “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just,

then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” – Anonymous

So live well, do what you love, and spread peace and positivity in your life because life is what you make it!

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