What is the purpose of life?
This has been one of the main questions plaguing humanity since our time began. In today's age we have so many causes that we fight for. Perspectives range from freedom from religion, to of course following religious zealotry. It is my perspective that people have faith or beliefs shaped by personal upbringing. We can debate nature vs nurture, but I think it is fair to say that our subjective experiences are shaped by both.
Many crimes have been committed by religious zealotry, but the same can be said by regimes which have shunned religion. We often hear how "religion" is the cause of all wars and suffering on the planet. But those same people who say this seem to willfully ignore the crimes born out of the most recent G-dless regimes. I have heard many times that political systems such as communism or socialism have failed only because they were not implemented properly. My own opinion is that these "systems" can never be implemented properly solely due to the human factor. Human beings are full of emotion and instinct. We are imperfect and constantly make errors of judgement. We strive to survive and thrive in a world that has the laws of nature, and our own emotions often lead us down terrible paths. You cannot take that competitive spirit out of any animal. Survival instinct is pre-programmed within us, and we all are susceptible to jealousy, greed, and in many times baseless hatred.
The subjective human experience
I have personally seen and heard of stories where an individual comes from a stressful and often suffocating religious upbringing. A common occurrence is that those individuals eventually shun the whole religion or belief system later on in life. They in essence "throw out the baby with the bath water". This may happen in many different kinds of strict religious homes. This is a natural by-product of living in a secular society where leaving the "fold" presents new opportunities. It may free certain people of their perceived "shackles", but it does leave a void that needs to be filled.
So that leaves a question. Where do you go after you have been "freed". What is now your purpose in life? I do believe that every individual; even an atheist fills themselves up with their own personal belief system. After all, if there is no purpose to life then what would be the point of "living". If we did not have those natural instincts for survival, then we would more than likely see suicide on-mass.
What is freedom and human rights?
http://www.humanreligions.info/religions.html
Listed above are many belief systems. We live in an age where knowledge is literally at our finger tips. This is a very good thing, but it often opens more questions than answers. To be "progressive" is a broad term. What is "progress", who defined what "progress" is? Can we believe that the push for "human rights" is progress? Again, we know full well that the broader animal kingdom is competitive. Who defined what "human rights" are? For that matter, who defined "animal rights". After all the animal kingdom was designed as a food chain. Animals do not worry about how their "prey" relates to pain when they hunt and kill. If Lion's cared so much, why didn't they become vegan?
I think it is fair to say that no matter how much the original bible is shunned, it has certainly shaped what our definitions of "rights" are today. Some definitions may be rational and born out of logic, and others seem just the opposite. I do not think I can answer the question to "what is the purpose of life". Life is too diverse and complex to answer such a question. What I do believe is that human beings require purpose. We also have to define that purpose in a world where natural laws exist. Perhaps we as humans wish to break the bonds of nature, but again reading the bible this has been attempted many times before.
The Common Denominator
Perhaps this is our purpose; to over-come our natural instincts. Paganism is very difficult to define. My G-d is better than your G-d, or I worship this G-d versus that G-d. Monotheism created sets of "rules" that in many way's compiled the basic purpose towards it's view of "progress". I know that many dogma's may see that as an impossibility and therefore "new" and multiple variations have came out of it. At the end of the day the common denominator still remains the same; we do not kill, we do not steal, we do not etc. etc.
With that being said, I am fairly confident that the new "causes" today are simply because the "old" causes are being taught as no longer relevant. After all, we live in an age of technological wonder. Science and discovery should have been the new "holy grail". What I do fail to see is how the "new causes" have erased the need to end murder, stealing, and many of the myriad of negative things human's perpetuate. We often complain about religion, but then again most "leaders" in today's age are not religious. We fight for every cause under the sun, but fail to focus on what is really holding us back. Does this mean we shouldn't fight for human rights, or even animal rights? Does it mean we should continue to pollute our planet? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. Those causes are important, but I believe the new wave of zealotry forgets the common denominator. Sometimes we don't need the "new", we need to focus on the original intent. Is it no wonder that "progressives" are very often the biggest hypocrites? What I am saying is we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater or that we need to re-invent the wheel.
BB613