In fact, while believing in God helps some find meaning, thanks to a fine new book called A Better Life: 100 Atheists Speak Out on Joy and Meaning in a World Without God, believers and nonbelievers alike have strong evidence that the godless can and do enjoy lives of rich meaning. The author, Chris Johnson, is also a marvelous photographer, so his numerous interviews and profiles are accompanied by high-quality photographs that make the book a perfect coffee-table conversation piece. (Full disclosure: yours truly is one of Johnson’s subjects.)

A common theme emanating from the book is that atheists have little trouble finding purpose in their lives. Having rejected myth and ancient texts as authorities for defining life's purpose, nonbelievers get meaning and joy from family, friends, loved ones, nature, art and music, and their work. "My life would be nothing if not for love, and learning," says Washington journalist Jamila Bey, one of the book's subjects (p. 33). "There is absolutely nothing required."

Actress and comic Julia Sweeney (p. 25) expresses similar sentiments. Coming from a religious background, Sweeney says she found atheism to be an adjustment at first. "But after a while, the understanding of my particularly small place in the natural order of life deepened, and my appreciation for this short stint - to be alive and aware - was activated."

This awareness of our limited time, with no eternity tagged on the end, can makes atheists alert to the importance of living a full life, says Rice University Professor Anthony Pinn (p. 172): "You have to drain from every moment as much as you can so at the end of life you can say you've lived."

Instead, most believers spend their days and hours just as most nonbelievers do: working, paying bills, driving kids to soccer practice, socializing, catching a movie, shopping, etc. Meaning? Yes, they find it, or more accurately they create it, just as atheists do. But it takes some imagination, or , to attach biblical "meaning" to the modern western lifestyle.

There is a school of thought, called absurdism, that focuses on how humans naturally seek to attach meaning to a world that offers none. If you’ve ever enjoyed a good Kurt Vonnegut novel you may appreciate how absurdism can effectively blend and profundity. We struggle through life, try to make sense of it all, experience joys and sorrows along the way, only to ultimately make our exit. In the end, no matter what your philosophical outlook, there is an element of absurdity in it all.

That said, as some believers claim their ancient books convey absolute truth from an all-powerful and all-knowing divinity, it’s hard to conclude that the atheist is any more absurd than the theist.

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