I'm not saying there are no valuable lessons to learn in the bible, but I refuse to take it as truth, because I can quote too
Genesis 6:6-7 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
mass murder by a god who regrets his mistake.
Romans 26-32 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.
bigotry and condoning their deaths for being who they are.
Luke 19:27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.
Please don't kill me!
I can't speak for other countries, but in the US, atheists are the most mistrusted people and there's a lot of discrimination against atheism.
Because you have to prove to God that you are worthy of rapture. Being a christian itself is not good enough to deserve a ticket to heaven/eternal life, you need to be a good person. And life here on earth is where you get the chance to prove your worth: by taking care of yourself and of others.
As such, there's definitely a point to living: it's the preparation for the afterlife.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I John 5:11 ...God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
I John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Says nothing about how you lead your life. In fact, people who lead good lives, but don't believe in christ are condemned to eternal torture. Seems fair to me!
But what is the meaning of this other than basic survival?
If you survive merely for survival's sake there still isn't any point, because you'll die anyway. You might as well not be born, in the end the result is the same. You're merely delaying the inevitable.
Guess we don't have to celebrate your birthday and holidays and such because they're going to end anyway
Such a pity.
Marriage is meaningless, because it's going to end when death sets in.
As I've tried to explain earlier, things are only special if they're, you know, special! Not always present, they are a positive mark compared to the average.
I think it's safe to say that life is quite positive in comparison to death and not yet existing
You don't know why these things happen. Maybe they serve God's plan, maybe the just happen outside of God's control.
There is a very firm understanding of the world we live in. We don't know everything, but there are quite clear explanations for earth quakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, diseases etcetera, so that covers how it happens. I don't understand the need for the question "why", except if you naturally assume that there is a god. Except we don't need one to explain the universe.
These catastrophies may cause tremendous suffering, but at the same time, isn't it the suffering that brings us closer together? Aren't the challenges we face, grave they may be, the things that make us grow as human beings? I'm fairly sure that looking back at past troubles most of us will feel grief, but at the same time, they have made us what we are today. There's bad influences in them, but also value.
People who haven't had any trouble in life rarely grow out to be respectable people. They are like children. Only those who have suffered themselves know what other people go through and how important their support can be. Without individual pain there's really no empathy.
I can say I've had a relatively problem-free childhood. Does that make me immature and not a respectable person? shadymilkman is someone who's had a privileged childhood as well. Is he immature and not a respectable person? The kind of person you end up being is not dependant on how hard your life is, at least not as much as you describe it. It's dependant on how good your parents were. There are plenty of people who've had their share of hardships and it turns them bitter, sometimes even malicious.
There are plenty of marriages that break up because of financial problems. Are you saying this makes them grow as a person? If they had a child, does this make things better for that child in later life? Do orphans usually turn out better people than people who have had parents?
But for christians, with the afterlife in mind, death does not have to be such an awful thing.
This is a terrifying idea to me, because if life has no meaning, then what prevents them from becoming a suicide bomber? What would prevent a christian leader to send soldiers to meaningless wars?