RE: Atheists: Why live? Chase's video response.

[charlesvan13]

Too bad he didn't follow his own advice.

[melbyRick]

Ha! you ask "why live?" Heh, well I say 'why not live?' Anyone remember the words of the Caesar?

"I came, I saw, I conquered..."

That's all there is to it. So quit being bitches and be MEN.

[RobJohns73]

came off the star wars video.. really good vid, nice work.

[traceydeanrainey]

I miss you brother!

[muticere]

complete hedonist in my experience. When it comes down to the most basic level, those principles have to come from somewhere. They may come internally, from your own mind and will for yourself. Or they may come from outside, delivered from a philosopher or religious teacher. Either way, they aide us to be better and make more or our short lives. Just because I believe in life after death doesn't mean life is any less precious to me, and I hope to continue living my life to the full.

[muticere]

At least they aren't for me. They add definition and character to my life, and allow me to appreciate and savor life to the fullest. I'm not doing this so that I can please my God or because I look forward to a reward after I die, I do it because I believe it will bring me happiness in this life, which it has! Grounding a life with principles is good for anyone whether you believe in a god or not. I know atheists base their lives on principles, too. Rare is the atheist who is a ... (cont) ^

[muticere]

As a believer, I do like Chase's comments and agree with what he has to say in the context of how we perceive our lives and how we view death. In a way, religious people do not believe in death, at least not in the same way an atheist would. The only response I would give is with regard to the statement that we make sacrifices and give up living in the hopes of some kind of reward in the afterlife. The types of scarifies I make based on the teachings of my religion aren't sacrifices. (cont) ^

[MumblingMickey]

@muticere My guess is your model of whatever god you have, or afterlife you think is there is one you personally made up then?

Not being a smart ass... just an observation from your comments. It certainly can't be the gods in the talmud, bible, quran or bhagavad ... those guys don't bring happiness..

[Steve2323ZX]

how did he die? Does anyone know? If he committed suicide, he is a complete hypocrite after posting this video.

[HamGreenandEggs]

@Steve2323ZX It's not important or any of your concern.

[Steve2323ZX]

@HamGreenandEggs says you. I'm completely within my legal rights to inquire about the nature of someone's death

[HamGreenandEggs]

@Steve2323ZX That you are, but it's not your business, just morbid curiosity. They didn't post it in the obituary and only the guys friends and families are going to know.

[Steve2323ZX]

@HamGreenandEggs He made this video public and the nature of his death has implications on the message of this video. Don't impose your self righteous and arbitrary sense of morality on me. If I want to ask how he died, I will and there isn't anything you can do to stop me.

[HamGreenandEggs]

@Steve2323ZX I didn't, you're misunderstanding me, I just don't think how he died is important. You can ask all you want, but I doubt you're going to be getting an answer

[Steve2323ZX]

@HamGreenandEggs at the 03:35 mark of this video he makes a proposition that "we have a responsibility" to the universe to "bare witness to it" with that in mind, how he died directly effects if he attempted to fulfill this "responsibility" or if he finally came to the realization that it was all bullshit

[HamGreenandEggs]

I hope your life was worth living brother. R.I.P.

[jeremytatedaniels]

Blah, Blah, Blah. some people over think things. I agree with you about most of what you said but still... yawn.

[vfmc77]

I wanna go to Heaven so I believe in God. If I'm wrong in believing that then oh well nothing happens, I still had a good and happy life.

But if you were wrong (non believers) well then you guys are in big trouble.

[Billfan222]

I thought this was very enlightening, I'm just sad that you have to get comments like the ones below who JUST say "you're wrong". Anyway, keep up the good work, you have convinced me to suscribe.

[playadominical]

Live is worth living because it exists? "Why not?" Um, no.... the fact that I am alive doesn't automatically provide any reason to go on living. That, in fact, is the whole problem. If you want to develop a more thoughtful position I suggest you try reading some 20th century Continental philosophy (and by read, I mean actually read the whole text and not just the wikipedia entry). You might find the question is considerably deeper than your take on it. Good luck.

[heishirosama]

@playadominical

So you should kill yourself if you don't have deep enough answer to the meaning of life? Doesn't make any kind of sense.

[playadominical]

@heishirosama how did you get "kill yourself" from my comment? i find that very curious. i strongly suggest you try opening your mind to new ideas.

[heishirosama]

@playadominical

"Live is worth living because it exists? "Why not?" Um, no.... the fact that I am alive doesn't automatically provide any reason to go on living. "

Your text.

[playadominical]

@heishirosama the point is that you have to look deeper to find a reason to live, it isn't self evident. keep trying, you'll get it soon! :)

[tricksy33]

honestly, I see no way this universe could possibly have happened on its own. I'm not taking this from a "I need a higher power so I have meaning" standpoint, it just doesn't make sense.

and I'm glad you actually thought this out instead of just saying like everyone else "religion is stupid". I cant convince anyone in text/video/anything that there is a God...I just urge you to consider the possibility as more than a fantasy of helpless minds. There is only one truth out there, find it.

[XaeeD]

A criminal kidnaps a young girl, he rapes and kills her. He's never caught, nor does he feel any regrets about it. He grows old and wealthy and after a long and good life he dies in his mansion. He didn't regret what he did in the least. A very bad man. If there's no afterlife, if there's just a meaningless void to which we all return, than the man and the innocent girl are the same. His deeds won't matter in the void. Her death is nothing. There is no right and wrong in life, no good and evil.

[XaeeD]

In fact, it's better to be the murderer in this example, than to be the young girl. At least he had a long life and had everything he desired. If this life is all there is, then it doesn't matter what he did. There is no justice in this life then. And so, that's why there must be life after death: heaven and hell (reward/punishment), so that our choices in life (right/wrong, good/evil) have meaning. Otherwise, the girl and the man are the same and nothing we say/do has any real meaning.

[XaeeD]

Why would you not want to be the man in this example? Would you as an atheist chose to be that girl over the man? And if so, why? Live life to the fullest.. well, she only lived a short time, was brutally raped and killed by a man who didn't feel bad about what he did, grew old and lived his life to the fullest. In the end, both become nothing and return to the empty void, where there is no existence, no meaning. Life is all they had and the man got more out of life than the young girl did..

[XaeeD]

Why live? Cause it just so happens you exist? To reproduce? To be good to others? To experience, learn, laugh and love? All these reasons in fact are meaningless when (after all of this) you say you become nothing. I really can't come up with a good reason to live life, if after life, the empty, meaningless void awaits. Life itself means nothing, right and wrong lose meaning. Think deeply about this. What remains of beauty, or righteousness, or love (etc) in the void of death?

[XaeeD]

You speak of reality, which (in it's origin) means 'all things'. That's what reality is to the atheist.. THINGS! That's not what the Arabic word for 'reality' means. In fact, according to my beliefs, you are the one in denial Chase. I recommend this old book if you're interested.. it's called the Qur'an. It will point out to you what you are in denial about and what reality is, inshaAllah we say.. if that's God's will. Sorry for the long texts. Peace!

[Steve2323ZX]

@XaeeD You are using a line of reasoning called, "Appeal to consequences" and it is a logical fallacy.

Example, if X is true, here are the consequences.

If you don't like the consequences simply deny that X is true.

I hope you realize how moronic it would be to think that way.

[XaeeD]

@Steve2323ZX I was refering to ethics if you read carefully; what does good and evil mean when there is no life after death and what does this do for the concept of justice? I wasn't establishing a certain truth. In my point of view, if there is no afterlife, then good deeds and evil deeds lose their meaning, even being happy or not happy, or having children or not.. in the end, nothing really matters. So I believe in an hereafter and to me it makes sense. That's my opinion..

[Steve2323ZX]

@XaeeD you believe in an afterlife because if there wasn't an afterlife what you call, "good deeds" and "evil deeds" would have no meaning and you don't like that consequence do you?

Just because you don't like the consequence doesn't mean you can deny the truth that heaven and hell are fiction. You really should google "Appeal to consequences" and find out how your line of reasoning is a fallacy

[XaeeD]

@Steve2323ZX You don't know heaven and hell are fiction, you're asuming that. You're also asuming there's no afterlife. Besides, this is not the reason why I believe in an afterlife. What I said was related to ethics. How can there be justice if there is no afterlife? There is none (look at the example of the murderer). Now if you're contend with that, that's your choice. I don't know if I like my evil deeds to have consequences, would I like that? No, not really, still I believe it must be true

[Steve2323ZX]

@XaeeD i'm not assuming anything. The brain and consciousness are intertwined. If your brain stopped functioning, you will lose consciousness. Also, your idea of justice is completely subjective and arbitrary

[XaeeD]

@Steve2323ZX Well, I believe in the soul and I believe we will be resurected, so what else is there to say? I believe one thing, you don't, I see no reason to have a discussion about it. And my idea of justice obviously is subjective, so what? Would you say it's just if an evil man gets away with murder and robs a young innocent girl's life? I think people would agree that it is an evil act. So where's the justice? There is none if the man is not taken to acount for his crime and punished by it.

[Coloradotoker]

@XaeeD Life is not fair. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad ones. That does not prove there is an afterlife. You think that justice and meaning hold the universe together? That reality would be impossible with out them?

[shipleyshipster]

I'm a theist and even I don't believe in this point, of course you would continue to live life to the fullest, its the only one you have in your view. But on an objective level, your life has no meaning or purpose. Even if you delude yourself into thinking your purpose is to educate or make an impact on society in some way, its all an illusion. In an Atheistic viewpoint, eventually the universe will reach maximum entropy and heat death, and nothing you did will be relevant. Am I right?

[ShadowNeverDies]

Label myself as Christian and yeah some Christians give up most of their lives for a belief in an after life that theoretically may not exist, and surely doesn't exist as most Christians would see it. But I mean I agree with your points on the basis of your point of view and for once it's an argument that doesn't sound accusatory and is actually logical instead of just religion is stupid and you're stupid for believing in it. And I wish more people just take your advice and just live life.

[Bassbait]

Why Live? That's a stupid question to ask an Atheist. The simple answer is because: "If I'm not going anywhere after death, why would I want to end the one life I get?"

In fact, it would be smarter to answer a religious person "why live?", but the simple answer is "because I'll be punished for suicide".

I am a religious person, but I think Atheists should live too, because everybody has a chance to do what they think is right with their life, and I don't think people should be punished for it.

[CanineFaeces]

Religious people can't accept reality and delude themselves with make-believe. Enjoy your life, however short it is. If you want a laugh, watch Bad Boy Bubby on YouTube. There's a scene about God which is funny as fuck.

[lonewarrior250]

Whether we believe in an after life or not; it doesn't change the fact that we are born with a function in the world. Our instincts and experiences drive us to become what we were meant to do and then we die so that others can fill the stable foundation we left behind for them to prosper and grow as well. Life is about growth, in many forms and the minute we stop, we stagnate and die. It's rather shallow to assume that if someone doesn't believe what you do, they aren't capable of growing.

[jSaurabh]

Why live? Easy! It's simply an evolutionary trait. Why do abused animals continue to struggle for life when they can just give up? This drive to live is not unique to humans.

But the same question can be applied to theists. If dieing means you go to heaven, why live?

[0NoName9]

Why live? Because it took you billions of years to get where you are and it ain't coming back.

[chasemelendez]

@0NoName9 Well said.

[obeyance]

@chasemelendez Is it? Thats a non thought out "Your Mom" style answer. "Of course you arent afraid to die, you dont believe in death." What about those of us that are agnostic? Im not afraid of death, because i dont believe in death... as atheist do. You believe in nothing after death, your body decomposes and your consiousness goes to void. I dont believe that. I believe: When you die your body returns to basic energy and your consciousness is returned as well.

[obeyance]

@chasemelendez I am energy therefor i shall be energy. Not nothing. Perhaps all the religious in the world have a bit right. If you take all the rights maybe you could grasp a sense of what really is. If everything is made of the same thing, could that not be "god" or an extraordinary existence? Would that not be a basis for omnipresence? When you die you return to being energy in different forms, would that not be a basis for "afterlife"? I am a thinker, this what i do. I challenge you to answr

[obeyance]

@0NoName9 After billions of years you became a parasite to an ecosystem? Humans, for the most part, force the ecosystem to evolve around them, not use to evolve with the ecosystem. That makes us a parasite. Just sayin.

What i want to say is similar to what i said to chase but less involved with religion and more into science. "It took you billions of years" to travel the universe as energy and amass as a human, then to be returned to energy when your human existence is over.

[obeyance]

@0NoName9 Therefor, you are coming back... but not as a human, you could be part of a tree or... sound... or ... anything down the road. Who knows, maybe another human perhaps, wouldnt that be neat... So... "And it ain't comin back" is a very illogical evaluation of what could be as energy knows no bounds.

[0NoName9]

@obeyance Why illogical? That would be the only logical evaluation given the currnet state of knowledge on death being a living organism's critical failure. And with it, the critical failure of its nervous system which, as any neurophysiology book would tell you, is the seat of said being's consciousness, memory, behavior and emotions.

But if when someone dies some magic makes its mind live on I cannot say, but I'm sticking to what experimental data suggests. Give nature the credit it deserves.

[obeyance]

@0NoName9 im waiting for OP to post.

[Steve2323ZX]

@obeyance he will never post another video again....news flash, Chase Melendez is dead.

His obituary is on the internet. Look up, "Obituary, Chase Melendez, Portland."

[melbyRick]

@Steve2323ZX What? Already?

[lilbrothaaa]

We do live so why question the use of it at all? It is possible to end one's life by oneself but once this is done there is no opportunity to get it back. At the same time even if you do not end it yourself it will end one day anyways. Death will get you either way so why not live? The original question seems unlogical to me.

[manbearpig707]

i don't think you or anyone else should be expected to share my religious worldview either, or that someone is wrong/evil/whatevs for not. There is far to great a spectrum of human experience and wisdom for us all to be worried about making sure we agree on the small stuff like religion, instead of enjoying the big stuff together, like how beatiful and wonderful life CAN be. Take her easy, man. Also, your 2001 rebuttal was the knees! Great stuff.

[manbearpig707]

'Sup, Chase! I like you're videos a lot and I'm glad this is something we can agree to disagree on. I'm "religious" and I believe in something bigger than me and more powerful than me that is is still ever-present in me and the world around me. I just so happen to assing the name "God" to that "more". Others use different names, but we're kinda talking about the same thing in one way or another. The thing I wanted to point out is that religious people can have the same...cont. pt 2

[chasemelendez]

Thanks for watching & commenting but dare I say.. based on your comment I'm not convinced you are really religious at all. 'Spiritual' is the label i would choose for you if i had to and spiritual is not exclusively the domain of religion. My problem is primarily with dogma and if you are without dogma than we have very little to disagree about. Glad u liked the 2001 vids & thx again

[AdamBucceri]

Whoops, accidently clicked 'vote down'. I actually really like your comment, and while I don't believe in God, if I did, that's the idea of God I would like to believe in.

I feel a life of virtue should be rewarded, regardless of faith, or lack thereof.

See also C.S. Lewis's "The Last Battle" for my feelings on that.

[jebes909090]

Well I think you actually answered the question of why live if theres no god. Something that is rare and finite is precious. Something that is abundant and unlimited isn't. So if there is a god, then life isnt worth much, but if there isn't then living as much as you can is VERY VERY important as YOU only exist once. Enjoy it.

[chasemelendez]

Thank you for that.. & thanks for subing!

[datalal624]

Wow. Great answer!

I guess I'm sort of an agnostic-in-flux right now. Some days I can't believe in a God at all, while other days I'm reading "The God Theory" by Bernard Haisch, or Tolle's "The Power Now".

Maybe it's because of my ubringing. My parents encouraged me to ask questions and think for myself, and yet almost my whole family is strongly Christian, which satisfied my questions until I was about 16, while getting confirmation lessons. (Cont'd)

[datalal624]

I asked some hard questions of the reverend (e.g. "What happens to the non-Christians when they die?"), and she didn't give me satisfactory answers. So for most of the last decade I've struggled to reconcile Christianity with rationality, and last year I just gave up on the former altogether. I was tired of pretending to be what I'm not.

Anyway, I'm just finding it hard to go from the semi-agnostic state I'm in to saying "I'm an atheist", with all of the consequences that statement brings.

[chasemelendez]

@datalal624 Well a helpful way to think about it and get passed some of the stigma surrounding the word "atheism" is to realize that everyone living 2day is an atheist towards Zeus (& many other gods). I mean think about it, would you say you are an agnostic about Zeus? Plus, atheism & agnosticism are not mutually exclusive; while i'm an atheist towards the JudeoChristian god i am technically agnostic about the concept of a god in general. Hope this helps.

[Andrew4Handel]

How could science understand something that was intrinsically meaningless?

[chasemelendez]

@Andrew4Handel Sorry, perhaps it's me but I'm not sure i understand your question. Are you claiming that science "understands" reality so therefore it has a static meaning?

[idea1013]

Positively brilliant! "You don't believe in death." How could I have missed that for all these years? So simple and true.

[chasemelendez]

@idea1013 Thanks.. i think everyone is so used to dancing around the subjects of religion and death that the most obvious errors are allowed to hide in plain site. I mean there are giant segments of the world population that really do believe they live eternally. It would be staggering if it weren't so common. It seems to me belief isn't so much about happiness as it is about wanting to be rescued from death forever.

[KasparHauser4]

I dunno some forms of christianity are just tribal.... they give up nothing

[chasemelendez]

@KasparHauser4 Well that is why I said "almost always involves sacrifices..." and not always. Still it could be argued that even the shallowest religious conviction requires a sacrifice of thought that some (and I) would argue is still too great.

[ReligiousFiction]

Wonderful.

I'm rather stoic and speechless after listening, so I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later.

I will add that when I stopped believing in god and an afterlife, I revisited old childish fears of death (wolves, zombies, vampires) as if I had never worked through them. In fact, I never had worked through them - I skirted the issue by pretending death wasn't death.

[chasemelendez]

@ReligiousFiction Thank you. I was touched by the sincerity of your video and by coincidence I have been working on another video project not related to atheism but related to the nature of meaning so i was compelled to respond. We DO encounter this question far too much which i think says a lot about the insecurity of our species and not nearly enough do we attempt to answer so.. thanks for raising the subject and i was happy to contribute.

[ReligiousFiction]

Thank you for sharing yourself.

[Steve2323ZX]

@ReligiousFiction he is dead now and no one on yt knows how it happened