Death gives meaning to life. As without it a life, without the fear of death, without knowledge of an an 'end', would be numb.
Then what is the meaning of heaven? Heaven is a life without the fear of death or the knowledge of an end, is it not? Are you saying that's numb too? Maybe you should think about the consequences of an eternity without fear of death or knowledge of an end before you accept "heaven" as a positive thing.
But is this not a paradox? Because...
Death (inevitable ceased exicitence of the induvidual) makes life pointless (this is of course where we disagree)
In terms of the entirety of the universe, yeah there is no master point to life. It just is. And it's freakin great. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it is very likely that there is nothing more after it.
For now, I stay true to my point, 'When the end result is always the same, the means whereby don't matter'. Of course, im certianlly open to change, with appropriate convincing. It seems a rather depressing existence to hold this viewpoint does it not!?! (Oh how i suffer...) (LOL)
Depressing or not, it's truth. Ice cream makes you fat. That's depressing, but also true. Wishing ice cream didn't make you fat doesn't change it.
The purpose of life is to be found in the journey, not at the beginning or the end.
If you value your feelings over truth, go ahead and believe in god. If you value truth over your feelings, then it is fine to realize there is nothing after this life. Give me truth every time, regardless of the consequences. Your ego is what keeps you from accepting that your existence has no intrinsic value to the universe as a whole. You want to believe there is more, and so does everyone else (even us), but there is simply no reason to believe it's true. It's just wishful thinking. Once you realize that your existence is just a small part in a giant universe, you feel a little relieved. Your problems never seem quite as big as they did before. No matter what happens to you personally, the sun is going to rise tomorrow. It's a comforting thought to know that you are just along for the ride.