I found this gorgeous Richard Dawkins quotation from one of his books, Unweaving the Rainbow:
If, as Dawkins and most of the non-theist world suppose, unconscious nonexistence is our natural condition (how we spent most of the history of the universe, and how we will spend all of its future after us), why should we not revel as much as possible in the wonders of it, and why should we not want to spend every possible moment getting acquainted with this universe that we will know all too briefly?

(For those who didn't notice, that was rhetorical in my case. I'd be delighted to hear the answers from everyone, but especially theists.)

__________________
evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

What is your definition of unconscious nonexistence? Are you saying we are unaware of our surroundings or are you saying the unconscious is nonexistent? Or are you saying we sleep through our life and don't try to our fullest to understand the universe?

__________________
InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

No, I am saying that in the 15 billion years that our universe has been in existence, I have existed, and been conscious of my existence, for only 60 years. In the unfathomable billions of years that the universe will continue to exist into the future, I will exist and be conscious of it for a total of perhaps 75 years.

All of the rest, there is no EvangelicalHumanist. He does not exist, and is not conscious of the fact that he does not exist, throughout all but 75 or so of the billions upon billions of years of our universe's existence.

That being the case, I am saying that for those 75 years that I am aware of, shouldn't I be making the absolute most possible out of them, to understand as much as this briefly conscious I can about the universe I inhabit? Because those 75 years are all I have, and I won't get another chance.

__________________
evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

One of my reactions to this is it shows me how insignificant I am to the whole system. I think humans place too much importance on their existence. If I am more humbled I will learn more and experience more. It is my duty to leave the place cleaner than when I arrived. This is the same thing religions teach. Get the ego out of the way to exprience reality. An attitude of being in awe gives birth to learning and experiencing.

When at the beach, in the mountains or in outer space, don't leave your junk for others to clean up. We don't want to experience the rusted exhaust pipes and candy wrappers. We want to experience the awesome beauty of the universe.

__________________
InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

I don't know how many here watch the History Channel, but I was watching a show last week that kind of reminds me of the same ideas. The show was "After People" and was all about what would happen to the world without people living on it. It was an amazingly short time, shorter than the average lifetime, that most of nature would recover, and most of the things that we built would disappear. Wilderness would take over again. Makes one think of how truely insignificant we really are.

__________________
"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."