Honest Q: where does that leave me as an atheist?
As one such, the only meaning I can find in life is "it's about other people, and sentient creatures. Treat them well"
There is nothing else.
As one such, the only meaning I can find in life is "it's about other people, and sentient creatures. Treat them well"
There is nothing else.
Unless that reduces to what you want for its own sake (e.g., you want to treat all sentient creatures well for its own sake, or you want something else for its own sake that follows from treating all sentient creatures well), then it sounds like you have a religion, whether or not it involves a deity.
Example: lots of people enjoy and want to be nice to dogs -- and not because anyone told them it's good/moral to be nice to dogs, or that society would work better for everyone if everyone is nice to dogs and everyone has to do their part, etc. That seems like wants separate from religion or philosophy.
Unless Edie Brickell was right, about religion being the smile on a dog. Then maybe we simply want religion.
But that's beside the point, really. I was hoping for an acknowledgement that I could be a moral entity without the influence of religion. A bit of bridge-building would have been welcome, and much needed in these times.
Rather it requires the opposite, to see the person fully as what they are _right now_, and to respond accordingly without a trace of ideology. To do anything else is to be engaging with your idea of the person, and your own idea of what is “good”, rather than what actually is.
Not saying the bible isn’t worth reading, but rather that your point kind of rings empty. As humans we can find meaning anywhere.