Havel Quote

Response to Havel

I agree with Vaclav Havel that the modern tragedy is man's lack of concern regarding the meaning of his life. As a firm believer in God, I believe that there is a definite purpose to our existence, and that to find and serve that purpose should be the paramount goal of every life. Not being able to be certain about one's purpose is difficult, of course, and God does not necessarily make it easy for one to discern (and much less to achieve) what the "meaning of his own life" might be, but this does not excuse anyone from the need to seek out and hopefully to identify the meaning they were meant to find in their life. Religion and more simply a faith in God used to provide the impetus for individuals to seek out a better mode of existence for themselves, not in terms of acquiring greater luxuries or comforts in the material world but in terms of bettering themselves and seeking true meaning within themselves and in the world around them -- God is the mover of souls towards their own self-realization, in other words. As the world becomes increasingly secular and turns away from a belief in God, it has also seemed to turn away from this quest for meaning and from the need to find and fulfill some true purpose with one's life.

This does not mean, of course, that one must believe in any specific religion or even necessarily believe in God in order to try and live a meaningful and purposeful life, and indeed it could be argued that for some God and religion provided excuses not to investigate life any further, and not to make personal determinations of purpose and achievement. It would be perfectly possible for someone to determine that they needed to create their own meaning and purpose in life without any sort of reliance on an external faith. The problem is, most people don't seem to be ready or willing to do this, and so instead of the waves of freedom of expression and advancement that many anti-religious advocates claim would be the result of secularization the world is simply becoming less driven, less purposed, and more cynical. This is the true tragedy of humanity in the modern era.