Does God make life meaningful?
Human beings by nature are creatures of habit and dependence, we are sure in our mothers love, as we are sure in our friends. Is God our friend? Does God make life meaningful? This is such an innocuous question, so simple and yet, in itself, is layered with complexities. Is it God that causes life to have meaning or is it the self evaluation that faith causes? Is it not religion at all but ties of blood and friendship? Is it in the words we say or the actions that we do? Is God, and by extension religion, simply a crutch? All these ideas and questions are raised in the simple supposition of God and to answer if God makes life meaningful, these questions have, in part at least, to be answered too.
Atheism offers a strange comfort, because it can be argued that atheism in itself is a form of faith, an anti-faith it can be considered true. “Of two men who have no experience of God, he who denies him is perhaps nearer to him than the other” (Weil Atheism as purification p.103) this is important because the actual existence of God is of secondary importance in relation to the question of meaning, it does not lessen the meaning God would have on a truly faithful person life if God exists because it is more what the idea of God causes. Catholics for example, go to confession; they speak of their sins before God and the priest, to be purged, to be free of the guilt. The Atheist however, could take the view that if God does not exist but life matters, then all that matters in life is the moment, the single second that exists for them. This is all there life because there is nothing to remember, after there deaths at least, everything about them, no immortality, nothing and the future is unimportant because it hasn’t happened and the past is unimportant because it is dead. If an Atheist took this view then you can argue that in a sense they have both no meaning and no meaning to their lives. They have meaning in and of themselves, but no true meaning to others, not God certainly, but not even those close to them because no one is close to them, because to form a relationship with anyone requires time and time, in this argument, outside moment to moment, is irrelevant. “Purity is the power to contemplate defilement” (Weil p.111) this relates to things like confession because, in feeling guilt, in understanding it and in making reparations for it, it can be argued that our lives are given meaning because we care and to care for someone or something demands that they have meaning in our lives, whereas an atheist taking the moment to moment view would only care for himself or herself.
For an Atheist, you can argue, God has great meaning simply because they vehemently deny God’s existence puts more emphasis on God than simply believing in him. In a sense then, Atheists are the most religious in their form of faith, which can be described as anti-faith.
For the religious God can give hope, can provide a measure which, though we are found wanting in almost every aspect gives meaning because we are wanting, because the standard is unattainable and because any faith that believes in a supreme being, believes that this being cares. “We can know only one thing about God-that he is what we are not….the more we contemplate it [God], the more we contemplate him”. (Weil p.110) and also
“Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder?” (Nietzsche “The Madman”) Atheists it can be argued believe in humankind, if they believe in anything, to do what is right, yet there is little hope in that ideal because humankind is fallible, we have caused world wars, assassination, murder, rape, destruction and chaos, but God is by definition infallible, He is perfect in His majesty and beauty and the idea of God, in relation to hope provides meaning because he is infallible, for a religious person when the world causes disaster they can turn to God and find comfort. The atheist has only humankind, members of the race that caused pain in the first place. Though Atheist can argue that even if God exists he provides no hope and meaning because of free will this argument is flawed to say the least. Free will, and the damage caused by it when analysed carefully can be seen to prove to the religious only that God is innocent, without a reference to hate how can one, even a God, prepare for it? This relates to meaning because all religious teachings have the core value of being good to one another and to someone’s everyday life this could give great meaning, religious or not. It could be argued that if everyone was good to one another then there would be no war or anger. This in turn would enrich everyone’s life and give them more meaning. Religion can be seen as the device of men, but at its core is faith and faith is of God and therefore if everyone was good to one another they are following God’s teachings and giving everyone’s life more meaning ergo God gives more meaning to life than the absence of him. The truly pious, by and large, strive to be closer to God by emulating this principle this can be seen as the most meaningful tenet of existence.
Some could argue that friendship is the meaning of life that “…no one would choose to live without friends….For how would one benefit…” (Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics). To Aristotle through friendship everyone had meaning and was connected and this idea, like religious faith, has the core idea that people are good to one another, like religion it is a need but as he goes on to say “Friendship is not only necessary but also fine”. In one sense this idea of friendship seems to not only put emphasis on humankind but also the deeds of human kind because in the interpretation of people then your actions large and small are not only judged by yourself, because you care for you friends because they have meaning to you, but also by the friends themselves because your friends care for you and you have meaning for them. The Atheist may agree with this view implicitly, because the standard definition of friendship implies a relationship between people. The religious may also tend to agree however, because to the faithful what is God but a friend and more than this, a confidant that is like no other. God will always listen to you, because God is always there, God can understand where no other friend can, quite simply because he created you.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him” (Nietzsche) This idea of God being dead is in a sense logical, because though to the religious God is immortal the idea of can be seen as a social structure and if you do not believe in God then the social part of God, the part that relates to each person through faith can be seen as dead. It is plausible that it is this part of God that gives meaning. If the meaning of God is dead then, in the religious sense at least, God is dead so the meaning of life is gone and of the social God gives meaning and is dead, the only ones who could have killed him are the people who believed in him, by loosing belief. In this sense the quote could be seen as true, because the only way a social God could die would be by not being socially important anymore and to someone without faith in God He is not important.
Buddhists however do not strictly believe in God and yet their faith is just as strong and as life affirming as those faiths that do, they are just as devout and devoted to what they believe in and their monks are as strong in their teachings as any priest. Yet there is no God. To a Buddhists their lives have great meaning, through things like karma and reincarnation. Does this therefore mean that God, after all arguments for what faith in Him causes is actually meaningless? Buddhism carries the same core values as belief in God albeit in a different way, through Karma they believe that everyone get their reward for what they deserve and, if they do well enough they will reincarnate to a higher form eventually reaching nirvana. This can be easily translated into the Christian concept of Saint Peter’s judgement and Paradise. Though there is no God there is a structure and it is this structure, we can argue, that gives such meaning to Buddhists.
In conclusion it can be seen that God for the religious has meaning but, it is through the social structure of God that this meaning translates into the meaning of life. We are not talking of God’s supposed creation of the world or man but of His relationship with man after his creation, the creation of life is not in question because it bears little relation to the meaning of life on the whole. Rather it is relationships that have meaning on life; with no relationships it can be argued where is the meaning. Atheists my find meaning in their actual friends and that is okay because it is still meaning. As I have argued here then it is my belief that, if you do not form relationships, with God, your friends or something else entirely then your life will have no meaning because relationships cause us to care and by caring assign value to life in doing so, friendships form a social structure that we need day to day to simply exist without the hopeless thought that nothing matters. God is meaningful even in the absence of him but the only thing that is not meaningful is not caring for someone because then you have no relationships and therefore no meaning at all.

very interesting. it probably a good idea to read a couple of times to make sure you haven't missd anything.