ismu,
Thanks for including atheism. However, as I’m sure you know atheism isn’t a religion but it is a definite philosophical position.
All atheists share a single characteristic: A disbelief in the claims made by theists. Beyond that each individual atheist is likely to have quite different views on life, the universe, morality, etc.
The vast majority of atheists are also materialists, i.e. a disbelief in anything supernatural, including souls/spirits.
I cannot therefore speak for any other atheists so this is my personal philosophy.
God(s)
There are none. Such stories were created in ancient times where knowledge of the universe was severely limited and ignorance was the norm. The stories provided imaginative explanations to satisfy the insatiable curiosity of humans at a time when any explanation was more acceptable than adherence to truth. The stories have since been proliferated and used by politicians to control the populace. As real knowledge increases and is established through the strict discipline of the scientific method, we see a gradual spread of secularism throughout the world. As knowledge replaces the ancient superstitions people are beginning to expect and depend on proven truths rather than imaginative fantasies.
Souls/Spirits and an afterlife.
There are none. These imaginative concepts were also conceived in ancient times to provide solace to those who could not come to terms with their own eventual non-existence. The concept is still a popular belief by many since death remains a significantly unpopular prospect. And a hope that there might be something more beyond death helps to make acceptance of death much easier.
The Origin of the Universe.
There was no origin. The universe is infinite. Something infinite has to exist otherwise we could not be here, since if there was a point when nothing existed then nothing could ever have been started. It follows then that infinity is a requirement for anything to exist.
Everything we observe has grown from simpler components and modern science is pointing towards a number of basic fundamental particles and attractive forces as the basic fabric of the universe from whence everything else arose.
The concept of an intelligent creator begs the question of its origin, since how did such intelligence grow if it was not from simpler components. It seems more likely that such a being would have grown from an already existing universe. In which case it could not have been the creator of the universe.
It seems more reasonable to assume that a basic set of fundamental particles and forces have always existed and from whence everything else can grow and evolve. The alternative is to accept the far more complex notion that a fully formed super intelligence created and is guiding everything with an equally complex set of rules and requirements.
I do not see the Big Bang as an origin but just a single event among an infinite number of similar concurrent events. This is consistent with our history of observing ultimate causes, e.g. we once assumed the Earth was the center of the universe and the sun circled the Earth, then we had the sun at the center, and so on. At each proposal we shortly discover a greater truth. I strongly suspect that we will one day discover the natural cause of our current big bang and realize that yet again we are nothing special.
For more information on multiple big bangs read this article by Alan Guth at MIT -
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/mysteries/html/guth_1.html
The Origin of Life.
The fact of evolution has shown that all life evolved from simpler forms and ultimately from fundamental building blocks. Evolutionary theories (processes) are still being investigated and developed to help us understand how evolution occurred.
Basic attractive forces formed the elements, and each element has its own attractive forces that resulted in the simpler molecules and in turn caused the formation of more complex molecules. The very reactive nature of carbon almost guaranteed that organic life was inevitable.
The Purpose of Life.
There is none in the sense that an intelligence created life for a reason.
Evolution has resulted in the creation of intelligence, e.g. humans. It is now up to us to develop a purpose for either ourselves as individuals or as a race.
Perhaps the most important purpose we should declare is the right to survival and we should make every effort to protect that right.
The Future of Life.
The random nature of the evolutionary process that created us left us with some unfortunate side effects: Primarily a frail format that is easily damaged and rapidly decays leading to premature non-existence (death).
We exist because carbon was the most reactive element, but the result is a significantly weak structure.
Our future as individuals should be to either strengthen our frail bodies via genetic manipulation, or transfer our intelligence to a more resilient shell such as steel and silicon.
We are now on the verge of curtailing the largely random evolutionary process that created us and intelligently directing our own future evolution by design.
Morality and other Life Values.
Good is anything that enhances and supports life, and bad is anything that detracts or endangers life. From this simple guideline we can easily use reason to determine sets of rules and guidelines that support this concept.
Freedom should be the right of every individual. Every person should be free to do anything they wish providing such actions do not interfere with the freedom of others.
The survival of the individual has priority over the survival of the group. It is never right to sacrifice a single individual to safeguard a group; such sacrifice must be left to the voluntary choice of the individual. Either everyone survives or none survive. The rights of the individual are paramount.
The Future for the Human Race.
We are currently limited by the confines of the planet Earth that is likely to undergo a massive catastrophe at some point in the future. Other cosmic events may also bathe the planet in fatal radiation that will likely destroy most organic life.
Our future must be to leave the planet and find homes and lifestyles for ourselves in distant solar systems, other galaxies, or just in the emptiness of space.
Our current biological limitations severely restrict our future potential homes. Our evolution has tied us to the cycles of the planet, e.g. a 24-hour awake/sleep cycle. And the gravitational pull will make living on planets with different gravities very detrimental. So finding other planets that are near identical to Earth is likely to be extremely difficult.
However, if we undergo enhancements to a more resilient body shell devoid of bio matter then we should be able to survive almost anywhere and be free of the limitations forced on us by the planet Earth.
Ultimately if we continue to increase our intelligence at an exponential rate then perhaps one day we will understand everything. Perhaps then we could discontinue this universe and redesign a better one. Perhaps even create life on an Earth-like planet and have the beings worship us.
Finale.
I’ve run out of time and need to go do my laundry. And if you have reached this far then you have my sympathies.
Have fun
Cris