Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Life Is Good – A Pagan Response to a Nihilist Meme

Life Is Good – A Pagan Response to a Nihilist Meme

Last updated on: May 21, 2020 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

Life Is Good – A Pagan Response to a Nihilist Meme 2020-05-20T19:27:49-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last week a text-only meme came across my Facebook feed that grabbed my attention. It said:

In case no one told you today:

• Life is decay
• You will always be truly alone
• You are expendable
• Nothing happens for a reason
• You’re doing to die
• You will be forgotten
• It will be like you never existed.

My initial reaction was that the first six lines are true but incomplete and the final line is blatantly false. But the more I think about it, the less I think “true but incomplete” is an adequate response. Because as a Pagan I’m committed to the idea that while life is difficult and often painful, ultimately it’s beautiful and good.

Is this just a different religious outlook? Someone shared it from a Buddhist humor group, and while I know a little about Buddhism I’m far from an expert on it. So I ran it by UU Buddhist and fellow Patheos blogger James Ishmael Ford. His opinion matches mine: while there are “Buddhist-ish” concepts in it, it’s pretty much nihilism presenting as dark humor.

This isn’t some heresy that needs to be stamped out. If you got a laugh out of it, great. But it presents an opportunity to examine some deeper religious and philosophical thoughts, and that’s a conversation worth having.

Life is a process of growth and decline

We’re born, we grow, we live, we decline, we die. So does every other living thing in this world, in one way or another. “Life is decay” is no more accurate than “life is birth” or “life is growth.”

Life is a bargain. We get growth, happiness, and joy. We also get decay, sadness, and pain.

Some say that without the bad we would never appreciate the good – without death, life would have no urgency and thus no meaning. Perhaps that’s true – I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that without change things get boring in a hurry, and that’s no way to live.

Life isn’t a fair bargain. Some get much and others get little. Our job – if we choose to accept it – is to make sure everyone gets enough. Accepting that job is its own reward.

You are never truly alone

Humans are not solitary creatures. We live in families, communities, and nations. If we have no family or if our family abandons us, we make new families.

But even if we are cut off from our fellow humans, we’re still surrounded by other living persons: animals, plants, natural features and forces. And our Gods and ancestors are always close to us.

We have the choice to accept these connections or to refuse them. If you want to be alone, you can – most of the time, anyway. I like being alone, but I’ve been alone a little too much lately. If some of the connections are closed to me now, I need to focus on the ones that are always available.

You are valuable

On one hand, the nihilist meme is right: all individuals are ultimately expendable. Long term survival in the material world is for groups: families and species and such. And just because you’ve ended up on the good side of life’s unfair bargain so far doesn’t mean you’ll continue to be on the good side indefinitely.

But while these collective entities have a life of their own, they are all composed of individual persons. A nation may be more than its people, but without its people it ceases to exist. You and me and everyone else are necessary, and because we are necessary we are valuable.

You are free to choose your own path

I detest the phrase “everything happens for a reason.” It assumes there’s a grand plan somewhere in the universe, and that implies monotheism. I see no evidence there’s a master plan anywhere. My response to “everything happens for a reason” is “yes, and the reason is that you make bad decisions” (which isn’t always true either but usually conveys my dissatisfaction with that trite cliché).

This is a good thing. Because there is no master plan we are free to choose our own paths. Not entirely free – even those with considerable privilege still have limitations, and we constantly run into other free persons who are bigger and stronger than us, like tornados and viral pandemics.

We are not the pawns of some supreme being, nor of the Many Gods. We are free to choose our own paths and make of them what we will, or what we can.

We live on

Here again the nihilist meme is literally true. You are going to die, as every living thing before or after you has died or will die. The question, though, is “what is death?” Is it the end of existence? Or is it simply the doorway into a different phase of life?

While there is no proof – one way or the other – the evidence of past life memories, near death experiences, and my own ecstatic experiences tells me that consciousness is immortal. I’ve blogged about this on numerous occasions – perhaps the best one is One Pagan’s Thoughts on What Comes After Death from 2017.

Even if I’m wrong and consciousness ends when brain activity ends, we live on in our descendants – of spirit as well as of blood – and we live on in our deeds.

I fear dying badly, but I do not fear death.

We have an obligation to remember those who came before us

This is another case where the meme is true but incomplete. Fame brings a type of immortality, but only for a few, and only for a while. We all know Julius Caesar, but can you name any of the Roman emperors of the 3rd century CE? (I couldn’t). For the vast majority of us, when those who knew us die, we will pass from active memory.

This is why ancestor veneration is such an important part of most religions. I have a short list of ancestors whose names I know – I speak them on a regular basis. One of my daily prayers is that I may live in such a way as to be worthy of being remembered by those who come after me.

Remember your ancestors, and set a good example so your descendants will remember you.

Even the tiniest actions matter

This is where the meme is – if you’ll pardon the expression – dead wrong.

In putting together the upcoming class on Operative Magic, I was reminded of the Butterfly Effect, which is sometimes expressed by saying that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas two weeks later. It was originated by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917-2008), whose studies found that a very small change in initial conditions creates a significantly different outcome.

Whether your life lasts a few hours or over a century, the world is changed by your presence. Perhaps in a very small way, but it is changed nonetheless.

How do you want to change the world today?

Previous Post

May 18, 2020

Operative Magic – Theory, Strategy, and Practice

Next Post

May 24, 2020 Do Bad Times Really Make Good Art?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king was famous for his wisdom and built the first temple in Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Rehoboam David Saul Solomon