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meanings of life. If a person neither accepts the values and morals of

his/her family/community/church nor develops his/her own value

system, the rest of us may suffer in the form of crime, abuse,

violence, inconsiderateness, and selfishness. Thus, I believe we all

have a grave responsibility to decide upon and live by our own (but an

acceptable) set of morals.

It may be that religions have not given us nearly as many morals

and values as commonly believed (although religion has obviously

given believers some meaning, in the sense that, for Christians,

believing in Christ and following "God's word" is thought to lead to

everlasting life). There is evidence that religions gradually incorporate

a society's morals and ambitions into what is proclaimed to be God's

will (rather than correcting society's wicked ways). Thus, a pacifist

religion--"turn the other cheek"--founded by the "Prince of Peace" has

repeatedly supported religious crusades, wars for economic gain, and

"just wars" wanted by leaders or the people. Even though it appears

that religions did not "invent" good morals, religions remain very

strong, far from dead. In fact, for believers, religion amply satisfies the

four powerful needs for meaning, e.g. purpose , directing many lives

and promising salvation and less fear; values , telling us what is right

and wrong; efficacy , offering the power of prayer and some feeling of

control over life and death, and self - worth , including feeling superior

to others and being loved, favored, and chosen by God. Religion helps

people handle life's misfortunes and our enormous fear of death. For a

brilliant analysis of religion's crucial role in denying death, read Becker

(1974). Religion also provides a sense of belonging and a social

support system. The payoffs of religion are so fantastic that if you

believe in a religion, it is extremely threatening to even question it, let

alone give up its alleged advantages.

God is a delicate issue because some people need religion but

others do not. The realist must ask: Did an omnipotent God create

man or did insecure, frightened people create Gods? Most people

might give a knee-jerk answer but thoughtful consideration of this

question takes months or years. How you answer that question will

influence your behavior somewhat, particularly in terms of church

attendance, reliance on prayer, contributions to church activities and

buildings, and perhaps other ways. But your basic value system may

not change at all: People are just as honest, caring, gentle, good, etc.

when they no longer believe in God as when they did. Religion is not

the only basis for being considerate of others, being faithful,

unprejudiced, and living in harmony. These values are simply

reasonable and beneficial. With or without a religion, we all have the

same four needs to meet and most of the same moral choices to

make. We can find meaning for our lives without religion. We won't all

arrive at the same meaning, but we can, with effort, all be good and

do good in our own way. There is no one true meaning of life. Perhaps,

as Baumeister says, "the quest for meaning, not the answer, is the