How to live confidentally in the world without religion?

live life to the fullest and appreciate what there is (especially each other) play nice, share your toys and don't hit.....cookies are nice too.

Thinkzinc- I certainly understand why, as a teen, this might be of concern to you. You know, it really does not have to matter why we are here. We ARE here, and we can do our best to make our presence on this earth meaningful.

As far as being "watched over", if you think about it, that is the desire of a child for his father. To watch over to protect. As adults, many have not gotten past that concept, and look to some "higher being", in loco parentis.Your concept of a meaningful "master plan" is very lovely, but really has no basis in reality. I think that I really grew up when I was able to understand these three concepts:

Life IS unfair. (Get over it)

Mother Nature IS capricious.- People do not necessarily get what they deserve.

There is no automatic justice. The good guys don't always win, and many bad guys go unpunished.


One of the precepts that guides MY life, is a variation on the "Golden Rule". It goes, "The right to swing your arm ends at the other fellow's nose".

What I want out of life is do do the best that I can, and leave my mark on the generations to follow. Now I will never be a great scientist, or a prima ballerina. But my expectation that I will live a life that when I am gone, I will have left the world a better place for being there. When I am dead, I want to be remembered fondly, and hopefully, some of my words and/or deeds will have made a positive impact on other people.

Your question is a very important one, Boss, and valid in confronting the seeming wanton cruelties of "fate." In speaking of his insights into physics, Einstein said that "it beckoned like a liberation." I feel exactly that way about living without god. It is a liberation, and it can be a very daunting prospect. If there "is no point" to life without god, it only means that there is no externally-given, ready-made point. You have to make your own decisions about what is important, and act from that position. Theism is a rather childish point of view--some power, not present, has made us, and then gone off, where, no one knows. That "power" is available to save us from ourselves, to give us the rules of our existence and to justify that existence. This actually represents a complete abdication of personal responsiblity with regard to our place in a human world. Those who control religious communities--priests, ministers, bishops, whomever--benefit from this situation to exercise control over others. That they may genuinely believe what they preach does not mitigate the abdication of responsibility on the part of their followers. It is a difficult life, but it is well worth the effort to make your own decisions about what matters, and to attempt to act upon those decisions in a meaningful way. I wish you the best, and hope that you will make such an effort.

Hi TZ! I wrote a long reply this morning which was lost. Hmmm, I was probably too long-winded anyway. But what I wanted to say was you are absolutely right. It is terrifying! It's like we're in a car hurtling down the road without a driver. Even worse, as though we're in an airplane with no place to land.

Religion has answers, but are the questions the right ones? A belief system where you must believe as someone tells you to and have faith in miraculous happenings is impossible for me to accept. A rational person such as yourself would have, I suspect, an even harder time.

What has been my saving grace, or at least a comfort in this vale of tears, since I moved away from my Catholicism, is the Taoist philosophy. (Note: Taoism religion is a whole 'nother ball of wax -- full of superstition and magic.) The straight Dao De Jing, written by Lao Tzu, is ancient and based on an even older, earth-based belief system, yet it seems fresh today. There are many translations which are worthwhile and you might try reading a bit of it. It is readily available online. You may not agree with all of it -- a Taoist won't mind as long as you will laugh, perhaps have a drink or a dance, and enjoy the moon sailing through the sky. We're easy. If there is one word that would describe this philosophy it is acceptance, if two... enjoyable acceptance.

One of my favorite parts of Taoism are the three jewels -- three things to value and try to emulate. They are compassion, moderation and humility.

I don't want to proselytize, but here are a couple of websites that you might like to see:

Taoism & Zen

Taoism Depot


Taoism is also noted for its poetry:

You ask why I perch on a jade green mountain?
I laugh. But say nothing
My heart Free
Like a peach blossom
In the flowing stream
Going by
In the depths
In another world
Not among men.
Li Po


Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.

The universe is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it, you will lose it.

So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily;
Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness;
Sometimes one is up and sometimes down.

Therefore the sage avoids extremes, excesses, and complacency.

Dao De Jing - Chapter 29

That sounds good to me Piffka , I will certainly check out the sites you recommend!