Read two texts below and discuss with a partner arguments that reveal the author’s ideas on the meaning of life

The Meaning of Life (without superstition)
By Mitchell Kahle

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What is our purpose?

These questions are commonly said to be exclusive to the domain of theologians. They are not questions addressed by science, to be sure, but is religion necessary for meaning?

Some Christians assert that "A life without God is a life without meaning." But the statement is false. As an explicit atheist, one who openly rejects religion and notions of "God," I can tell you about a life full of meaning.

Why am I here? Because my parents mated, my mother conceived, and I was born - kicking and screaming -- on March 30th, 1962.

I am my mother's first-born son. For her, I most certainly have a purpose in life. She brings meaning to my life and so does my father. I give meaning to their lives. My siblings, three older sisters and one younger brother, are each meaningful to me in their own way. Our family fulfills a purpose in sustaining the family lineage and perpetuating the human species.

My relationship with Holly (my partner for more than 14 years) also brings significant meaning to my life. We honor and cherish each other. We support and encourage each other. We are together on this journey of life. Our relationship is built on mutual affection, care, love, trust, and understanding. We love our pet cats and share concern for the humane treatment of all animals.

Beyond my immediate family and friends, I serve my community by engaging in business, commerce, politics, volunteerism, and other social interactions. I serve Nature by acting responsibly to protect the ecology and environment.

My business has a function in the local economy. My leisure activities, hobbies, and creative endeavors have meaning for me and for those with whom I share. As a civil rights activist, my political actions affect the lives of thousands of people.

My family, friends, colleagues, associates, and others make up a relationship network which spreads around the world. You only need to know a handful of people to form a potential unbroken link with every living person on Earth.

Some Christians claim that "Jesus" is required for "Salvation" and "God" is necessary to discern good from evil. Again, this is a claim without justification or support of evidence.

I strive to maintain high ethical standards, based on a reasonable understanding or experience of the consequences of actions. I do not deliberately cheat, steal, endanger, injure, kill, or otherwise deprive others of their life, rights, or property. I believe myself to be an honest and trustworthy citizen who actively contributes to society. All without any religious belief or theology.

My personal code of ethics is embodied in the Silver Rule, which teaches: "Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you." This unassailable ethical standard is attributed to Confucius (who was not a religious cleric, but a civil servant).

Secular ethics and philosophy provide moral guidance and give meaning to life without superstition. Religion is not required for intelligence, knowledge, artistry, creativity, confidence, curiosity, health, happiness, friendship, love, marriage, sex, parenthood, or any other attribute of merit.

I will put my secular code of ethics up against any religious moral code anytime and thus refute the ridiculous claim that "A life without God is a life without meaning." My life and the lives of millions of atheists and secular humanists provide irrefutable proof that "God" is superfluous.

Before listening: group/pair work.

Questions to consider

1. Do you think the majority of people are happy in life?

2. What kinds of things make you happy?

Listen to a story “Happiness IS ….”. What are two things that the author has learned about happiness? Discuss it in groups of 3-4 until you are ready to sum up its message.

Below there are two texts. Working in pairs, get prepared to explain how their contents are related to H.L.Mencken’s ideas on the meaning of life. Picking up from both stories, enlarge the list of your topical vocabulary.

1)

The humanities at their best give testimony of man’s continuing effort to make moral, philosophical, and spiritual sense of this world – to evoke its complexity, its ironies, inconsistencies, contradictions, and ambiguities. The humanities begin, for a scientist, when he or she starts asking what a particular fact or discovery will mean for those who want to comprehend the obligations, the responsibilities of citizenship, the possibilities and limitations a given society presents. The humanities come into play, for a social scientist, when he or she starts wondering what some observation or theoretical construct or piece of data tells us about himself or herself – the person who has made a discovery, who lives with and by some larger vision of things.

To make a point, I would like to call upon the voice of an American factory worker I’ve come to know these past years. The physician in me has tried to contend with the illnesses that have afflicted him and his wife and children. The social scientist in me, a psychiatrist doing so-called field work, has tried to comprehend how a man manages the various stresses imposed by a tough, demanding, exhausting assembly-line job. But there is in this person the stuff of the humanities, and I only hope I am sufficiently responsive to, respectful of, what he has to say: “I feel good on the way to work. I leave the house early. It’s the best time of the day. I see the sun come up. I do some thinking”.

“Sometimes, I think there is nothing to believe in, except the almighty dollar – and a little influence, that always helps. Sometimes, I see people behaving real rotten to other people, and I remember the wars in my lifetime, and I think of the troubles all over the world, and I think back to my father and how he couldn’t find a job when we were kids, and my mother being upset for him, and for us, and I remind myself of what a lousy life it still is for most of the people on this earth – well, I can get real low. But for all the trouble my family has had, and the world has had, I guess I’m lucky, because I don’t stay down there in the dumps too long. I stop and say to myself that life may be a big mystery, like they tell you in church, but there’s your family to hold on to, and the future your kids will have.

My little girl, she’s eight years old; she asked me the other day if God pays attention to every person, and if He does, where does He get the time, and does He have the patience, or does He get tired? I told her it’s not for me to know how God does His job, but I’ll bet God thinks each grown-up person should have a job and should look after a few people and try to pitch in – to help who are in trouble.