Choosing Our Purpose

I was struck by a passage from a recent online post by Jerry Coyne, wherein he discusses religion, evolution, God, and finding meaning in life (among other things). The passage in question is as follows:

"As for the 'ultimate' meaning, well, that's a notion that's intimately connected God, and so the questions answers itself - and wrong. With no evidence of a God, there's no use asking for an ultimate meaning and purpose. All we can do is answer that for ourselves but not for others."

It is the last sentence that resonated with me so deeply. Indeed, one of the aspects of religiosity that has concerned me is when people will talk about "meaning" or "purpose." When broached in the context of God, what one really refers to is destiny. We are, I believe, capable of having purpose and meaning without the existence of a god-life entity, and it is up to us as individuals to discover and work on what that is.

This isn't to say that there is no God. Ask a hundred people, and you will likely come up with a plethora of different responses as to who believes what regarding that topic. For me, the jury's still out. But whenever I hear someone reference "God's purpose" for someone, I find it both startling and somewhat presumptuous. The former, because the notion of another being divining purpose for oneself would seem to negate autonomy and free will. The latter, because it wouldn't seem to up to someone else to know what plans -- if any -- God might have for another.

It would seem that we can, in fact, determine purpose for ourselves, that it would be arrived at by careful thought or inclination, and would be something that, hopefully, we want to do. Obviously, not everyone is doing exactly what they wish to do with their lives, but it isn't a stretch to assume that we at least have an idea about what such a life could be for ourselves.

Whenever an outside entity becomes involved with the prospect of us having a purpose, it makes one bristle. Imagine replacing "God" with, say, someone named Simon. Let's pretend you know this Simon person. Now, let's look at a sentence that goes, "Simon has a purpose for you." Surely that comes with some degree of negative connotations? At a minimum, it reads as though someone else wants to decide your life for you. Now, replace an average bloke named Simon with an omnipotent being known as God, and you have a measure of an unsettling power and control implied within that sentence.

Let's assume for a moment that there is a God. He/She gave us free will, no? We are therefore able to choose what our own meaning and purpose will be, without some sort of fate instilled within us. We are own authors, not characters on a page, with our plots written by someone else. Our lives are, most likely, designed by ourselves. Let us therefore hope we choose our purpose well. And that it would be a purpose which would make a kind and loving god happy with the path we have chosen.