One of religious believers' favorite questions for atheists has to do with our thoughts on the meaning of life. They typically assume that we must have a meaningless existence because we do not believe in their preferred gods. Not only is this the height of arrogance, but it reflects a lack of understanding about the nature of meaning, atheism, and all sorts of other things.

When we point out that there are no external sources of meaning, this does not mean that life is meaningless. It means that meaning is not something "out there" that we must find; it is something we have to create for ourselves. We accept responsibility for making our own meaning. This can be scary at times, but it is also liberating in many ways

Atheism itself is meaningless. Atheism refers only to a lack of belief in gods. As such, it does not aim to provide any meaning. An atheist is someone who doesn't believe in gods, and that tells us nothing about what he or she believes, values, or where he or she might derive meaning. In that limited sense, atheism is meaningless. But since atheism is not a worldview, ideology, philosophy, or anything else along those lines, I am not sure why we would expect any different.


Meaning Comes From Within

I am convinced that every person, religious believer and atheist alike, must create his or her own meaning. There are no external sources of meaning because we all filter the world through our minds. Religious people may claim to find meaning through gods, but they are merely imbuing religious concepts of their choosing with meaning. That is, they are making these particular concepts meaningful to themselves.

The difference between the religious and the non-religious is not that one group has meaning and the other lacks it. The difference is also not that one group derives meaning from gods and the other does not. In this context, the difference is that atheists do not find the use of god concepts necessary or even relevant when it comes to meaning. From what I have observed, we have much the same sense of meaning and purpose as do the religious, but we get there without the religious baggage.

For both the theist and the atheist, meaning comes from within. The difference is that the atheist recognizes and accepts this reality while the theist does not. In a sense, the theist prefers to externalize and personify the process of meaning-making by creating gods.