What a politician, business leader, university lecturer, school teacher, military leader, media personality, community leader, research scientist or anyone in a position of influence believes is none of my business. It would be highly intrusive for me or anybody else to demand an accounting of their thoughts from them. What is important to me is not what they believe but what they do.

I suspect that the reason Graham Preston would ask his intrusive question is that he is a believer in religious mumbojumbo. Believers in religious mumbojumbo are often intolerant of those who don't subscribe to their particular brand of religious mumbojumbo.

I would refer Graham Preston to Matthew 7:16 "By their fruit you will recognize them." That should be enough. Look at what they do. What they think or believe is not Graham Preston's or my business.

You seem to share a common misconception regarding atheism that seems to be expressed by many religious people. This misconception is that atheism is somehow another branch of an exclusive, organized religion, with shared values, beliefs and goals. You are projecting the worldview you understand, rather than what really is. This is not limited to atheism, just look at how some of the religious people here on OLO speak of global warming, and certain political groups etc. NOT BELIEVING is not another type of BELIEVING.

The second problem you have is that you are just simply asking the wrong questions.
"What is life about?"
"What, if anything, is life for?" etc.
These questions are the equivalent of "why is blue", "what, if anything, is nothing?". Not very useful to anyone.

Why don't you instead ask people with influence "what are you going to do with your influence", or even "why do you have influence?" and you might actually improve the ACTUAL world we live in.

‘morning Graham,

An interesting approach to the eternal question of the meaning of life. It’s interesting that this article originates from cartoon images where it is said that a picture tells a thousand words.

Larry Pickering as a cartoonist, seems to write about the images of his cartoons and apart from getting on the wrong side of some, his words often reflect his outside the box thinking.

Likewise your article is a little outside the box but it is still a meaning of life debate.

IMHO it doesn’t matter if we evolved or were created because neither perspective acknowledges the we are yet to emerge as a benign species. The two perspectives simply offer excuses for being what we are, either God gave us free will which we use unwisely or our evolutionary heritage has left behind a bit of the wild animal savagery.

Likewise the issue of death remains the same, we die and return to the earth or we die and spiritually go to paradise or are reincarnated.

It is hard to dispute the physical journey from birth to death however, many may choose to explain human behavior as evolutionary or through spirituality. In the end it doesn’t matter because there is no explanation other than we are what we are.

There are some 34,000 registered religions with hundreds of thousands of rules. All dedicated to making humans better then we are. I’m not sure of the purpose for examining sections of human communities in terms such as “ business leaders, university lecturers and school teachers, military leaders, media personalities, community leaders, research scientists – anyone in a position of influence”.

What is different between these groups to the rest of humanity? Why should interrogating their beliefs be “awkward questions”? The only difference I can point to is that those in a position of influence can screw things up on a larger scale than those who do not have as much influence.

That said, their religious, ideological or political affiliations might be an influence but that would be value judgment.

Great article.

This just shows how absurd and evil the power of the state is, forcing itself on everyone living within a geographical region, despite this population sharing no common philosophy, thus no common goals.

If states are inevitable (due to human fears), then the decent thing is to at least keep them small in size, so that individuals are able to move to areas that are ruled by more like-minded leaders, or alternately it becomes more easy to change the leadership to be more in tune with the philosophy of local people.

In Australia for example, the state hogs a whole continent (and many islands around it). It is scary to find that this state for example upholds and exaggerates the "sanctity of life" without having even a clue, and certainly having no agreement on, what life is and what is it for.

Yes but who do you ask!?
Someone or something that knows the answers!
And that someone is you!
If you really do want those very difficult questions answered, then seek ye first the kingdom of heaven within!
Or put in another more easily understood way, in modern parlance; learn to meditate.
Once you have mastered the art of completely stilling the monkey chatter than is your conscious mind, and place yourself in a state of very deep and VERY SAFE DOGMA FREE meditation.
The questions you took into meditation with you, will be replaced by a kind of knowing. And some claim it cured their cancer, or ended their PTS!
For example, if we were placed here, by a thousand and one chances inside chaos, to evolve?
Then given the serendipity chance theory, believe that a whirlwind would have a better chance or odds, of whipping through a junk yard, and creating a fully functional and flyable, 747!
Which by the way, is around a thousand times less complex, than a fully functioning human, with as many as 50 billion brain cells, the said product, of so called evolution!
Conversely, when we look back, over the total term of our life, we can see a reason and a purpose in everything, even the bad stuff, that didn't kill us; but just made us stronger, or just far more resilient and or, empathetic!
We are here to learn to love and perhaps realize our dreams, and or learn to cooperate, so that we can create the very conditions, we need to realize those very dreams!
And dreams need to be practical, not pie in the sky; or indeed, fill any evil purpose!
And no, I can tell you with absolute and very personal surety, that life doesn't end, when we die.
But goes on in another form!
And the only thing you need believe in, is the mighty irrefutable truth!
No, life doesn't just end!
The other form looks like; the one I love, she glows like moonlight, the one I love, she shines like silver!
Rhrosty.

I agree with the point about "by their fruits" as a better criteria than what people claim to believe about life and its meaning.

There is a point to being aware of the affiliations and loyalties of those in a position of influence but in practice the truly dangerous won't be those who deal with such questions honestly.

R0bert