"Ruth,   I suppose when I talk about meaning being meaningless, I mean to say that we don’t need to be so serious about getting things wrong in life or the consequences of our actions.  We did what we did, and we may feel regret, but…"

"Ruth, I like the idea of creating stories based in science that we can tell our children. My dad told me the story of creation when I was about 6 years old, and I loved it! It was about a big bang, and swirling masses of gas, and fish swimming up…"

"Alice, you said, "There is no ultimate meaning to why we are here - there is only the meaning we weave out of our own lives.  Our lives are ultimately meaningless - but because we like to feel that we matter and are significant in some way…"

"Alice, thanks for your input here. Your approach agrees with mine in many ways. But I'd amend #5 "The community is on nexus." While our virtual community is important in its exchange of ideas and worldwide extent, we still need real…"

"Wanderer, you said, "This aspect of belief is centered around our deepest sets of motivations - it centers around our sense of self, our very feelings of value, of how we see ourselves relative to the world, and on the metaphysical side, how…"

"Whew, I just realized how long my previous response had been, so its no wonder it took you a while to respond! Anyway, I'd love to hear more about your upbringing and personal history, it sounds fascinating if not entirely pleasant. My own…"

"Wanderer – Sorry it’s been a while – I’ve had stuff on.. LOL – yes I think I did feel quite the sinner growing up! We were told we mustn’t have the 5 vice’s lust, anger, green, attachment and ego –…"

"I am not one of those that thinks that there is nothing at all redeeming about any religion. Religions can be a force for good, if only a weak force. Religions bind people together and get them to believe in their self-worth and in the value of…"

"An awesome page, thanks!"

"Another thing with this Spinoza chap. I took an interesting class once where the teacher was talking about the difference between rigid, clear, and fuzzy thinking. On one extreme is rigid thinking, which is seeing things in black and white and not…"

"The word desires for me has connotations of sex – and this historically has been negative for me – I was told as a child celibacy was pure and good and clean. How about passions? You must have really had a rough go of it with those…"

"Sorry, wrong link, this is the right one... I hope! http://www.truth-saves.com/chapter6.php?section=3"

"Wanderer This is a quote from: http://godlessliberals.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114:oh-fuck-cuss-free-week-starts-today&catid=37:politics-&Itemid=57 Has Christianity played an important and contributing role…"

"Wanderer Oh thanks – I like that idea that I can relinquish meaning that isn’t meaningful – how do I put this to others? Possibly in just this way. I think in the past I’ve preferred the shock tactics of saying that nothing…"

"You may of course relinquish meaning which isn’t meaningful. We experience meaning when something motivates us. If you find yourself completely unmotivated by something, then it likely has no meaning for you, or even negative meaning. It…"

"Wanderer – I agree – meaning is manifest from our experiences and circumstances, our biochemistry and our genetic coding and ability and personality and so on…  we find ourselves with meaning in our lives….   But…"