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| (We are stardust?) |
In a letter to the Wall
Street Journal, Frank A. Nicolai of Fort Washington, Maryland protested the idea that "only a person with a religious belief system can ponder the big questions of life…"
Two of these questions are "What is the meaning of my existence?" and "What is a worthy way for me to spend my life?" Nicolai, who is neither an adherent of a particular religion nor a believer in the supernatural, asserts that he has given both of these questions much thought. His BIG musings sound something like this:
"Did the atoms that make up my body come from a supernovae billions of years ago, and will these atoms, once I am no longer alive, be recycled at another time and place?"
This latter question contains key elements of religious inquiries such as, "Where did I come from?" and "What will become of me after death?" True,
Nicolai's inquiry focuses upon the body, but many religions include that too (e.g., bodily resurrection, reincarnation, etc.).
The commentary on Nicolai's letter reflected a wide variety of perspectives. Ein Vogel-frei wrote that "one could see atheism as a mutation, a personal variant from the common human genetic predisposition toward believing in a god…" Daniel
Molitor stated that "life itself is the meaning of life…" Richard Tauchar claimed, "God is both useful and relevant in the sense that God provides the only method we have to explain our existence in a satisfying way."
Resources
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324328204578569444163834514.html?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp#articleTabs%3Darticle
Copyright June 29, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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