Your life has no meaning

As theists, we were taught that our lives were ordained by God himself and the sole purpose of our lives is to serve God so that we can have everlasting life in paradise after we die.  It can be difficult when we're indoctrinated to think outside of that thought process that has been laid out for us since we were children.  The root of the problem is that it's very difficult to think outside of that indoctrination because we're also taught to never question it.  If we do question it, we find some very interesting points to think about.

Theists will often propose that the lives of Atheists have no meaning because after we die we believe there is no further existence for us.  Therefore, whatever we do here on earth while alive is pointless and meaningless.  Actually, the opposite can be true from the perspective of the Atheist.  For example, if our lives are just a blink in the eye of God and we'll end up living an eternity in heaven afterward, then this life really doesn't have any meaning at all.

Of course, the same reply from both perspectives applies.  Our lives have  plenty of meaning no matter what our theological standpoint is.  We all love, share, enjoy our lives, and we hurt and suffer together, giving and receiving comfort in turn from those we care about and who care about us.  I actually propose that the opposite of the theistic perspective is true, that because we don't know what will happen after we die, every second of our lives is that much more precious and meaningful.

The truth that theists simply refuse to acknowledge is that nobody knows what will happen to us after we die.  They claim to know, but a book and a host of logical fallacies do not constitute proof.  Is it possible that there could be some kind of transcendent realm in which our consciousness can survive and carry on?  Sure, it's possible, but there's no proof of that, so there's no reason to believe that it will happen.  Just as there is no proof that we will go to heaven after we die, just because some anonymous writer wrote that it would happen in a letter thousands of years ago.

Theists don't get to decide whose life has meaning and whose doesn't simply because some don't choose to partake in their particular religion.  Each one of us has to find the meaning in our lives, and there's an incredible meaning in our existence from a scientific standpoint.  For example, the heavy metals found in our bodies can only come from one place - a star.  When stars die and explode, they eventually create new stars and planets.  That means that the molecules in our very bodies were once part of a brilliant burning sun, or the in the earth of a planet that once inhabited this space long ago.  We are made up of the universe, and the universe is made from the same stuff that makes us.

The natural processes of the universe, many of which we still have yet to understand, have created us and we are now capable of understanding how connected we are to the universe and to each other.  We live, we feel, we share, we suffer, we laugh, we cry...  everything we are is so much more than just us, and all of that has incredible meaning, and in my opinion, far greater meaning than simply "I exist because God wanted me to serve him."  I would much rather think of myself as a participant in this incredible and amazing thing called life in the universe, than simply have been born a slave to a Gods' will.

Some say that the greatest question is, "What is the meaning of life?" but I say that the answer is quite simple - "To live."  Everything we experience gives us meaning.  Every choice we make has meaning.  Even if we die and never have any kind of consciousness again, it will be no less than everyone else who has gone before us and will go after us.  They're our lives and we are the ones who get to decide the meaning.  Nobody has the right to say what the meaning of your life is or isn't, because they claim to know something that can't be proven.