Artisan by Dan Joyce
©2016
Post 36
Atheism And Absurdity
“Sartre called death an absurdity.”
“Why?”
“Because, it means nothing. We come from nothing and return to nothing, our minds, our consciousness…”
“I don’t get it.”
“It gives and takes away from the magic of the universe. Our lives, our perceptions are denied a grander cause. Instead, like a light bulb, it all ends.”
“But what about the self, self-fulfillment, self-actualization? How is that nothing?”
“Whatever impact, whatever contributions to life, whatever we learned from our whole existential experiment are all gone at once. How is that not ridiculous? The most profound argument for the existence of a creator vanishes to unreason.”
“Are you an atheist?”
“No, few people are. But you’d have to look at Sartre’s statement a little closer to understand, not an argument against a creator, but a more profound reason for one. True there is no way known to man to establish a divine being, but the purpose of life, what gives it meaning, we must chose a grander cause. Otherwise nothing can make any sense of it at all. And not only we become insane, but the chaos of life with no cause.”
“What was his cause then?”
“Apparently, through is writings, teachings and philosophical career, his cause was to find that cause. That was to live meaningfully for oneself and the ethical benefit of others.”
“That’s sort of beautiful.”
“It is, though. Isn’t it?”
