ABSTRACT
Theists maintain that without a divine order or purpose in the universe life would be devoid of meaning. The humanist asks: If the deity vacates the universe, would things still have meaning? Yes, of course, but only in regard to living species, their interests, or responses. Natural events in the universe have no meaning in isolation, or in themselves, but only for us. Since religion is a product of human imagination, woven from the materials of human passion—fears, forebodings, anxieties, hopes, yearnings, and dreams—God has meaning in the universe only insofar as we attribute the meanings we hope for to Him. Still, the impermanence of things is an indelible part of reality. One can see this in astronomy, where the cosmic scene is a spectacle of the birth and death of stars and galaxies, all moving at tremendous speed in an ever-expanding universe.
