Do you know why you are here?
Of course. My parents had sex and I was born. As all living beings that's why I came to exist.
I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you. I totally believe there is a reason behind every action.
Of course we don't have to agree. That's the beauty of a discussion or a debate.
The creation of the universe, the animals, the atmosphere, the surroundings, all these have reasons.
I've already mentioned that in an earlier post. Attaching reasons to things is a human trait, which is clearly visible in children.
You, me and everyone in this world will not survive for long. But, why?
Because our cells decay. The oxygen that gives us life is also burning us slowly.
Why do we die when this world is entirely made for us? Because this life is temporary.
Now... I have the same problem with this statement from two different angles: religious and ecological.
This world is NOT made for us. It does NOT belong to us more that it belongs to the bird on the tree or the frog in the pond. We are living beings just like any other living being. The fact that we acquired conscienceness through evolution doesn't entitle us to see the resources of this world at our disposition.
And this is so arrogant. Typical human thinking! We think we are the center of the universe and the things around us are created for us and they are ours to use and abuse. That's one of the best signs that religions are human-made creations.
Have you ever had situations, when you feel like there's no way out? Didn't you plede to anyone to help you. Oh, and you were helped. By whom? Your mom, dad, friend or wife? But did you really plede to them?
YOU PLEDED TO GOD.
And God helped you through them.
You're asking this question to the wrong person

. I know many more people who pray for things that they never get. Even when you're religious you can see that most prayers are left unanswered. There has been scientific studies on them (most of them organized by religious organizations). There's no scientific evidence what so ever of their power.
But science knows the effect of placebo. So if one believes s/he's going to get better, there's a higher chance that it happens. Giving patients placebo instead of real medicine is shown to have the same effect. We are conditioning our brain to act on our body.
However, funny enough, in another study, they grouped surgery patients into three groups.
1) People prayed for them and the patients knew about it
2) People prayed for them and the patients didn't know about it
3) Nobody prayed for them
Naturally, group 2 and 3 had similar results: praying or not praying didn't change the success of surgery, recovery etc. The strange thing happened with group 1. They did worse, probably because they knew they were prayed for and they thought they were in trouble. A good example of the power of our brain.
Basically, by praying to a supernatural power, you are asking it to bend the rules of the universe for you, and most of the time, at the expense of another person. Your doctor and test example is very good for that. 500 people go through the test only 50 succeeds. But everyone of them prays. Do you see the absurdity of the situation?
When something good comes out of a situation, you thank God for it. But when something bad happens it's not God's fault.
There's an accident. The survivors' families thank God all day long but the victims' families never curse the God for it. Abrahamic religions has even lost this honesty and become totally hypocritical. At least, in earlier belief systems, such as ancient Greek, people thanked their gods as much as they cursed them. Now, if something good happens, it is thanks to God, if it's something bad, it's either a "natural phenomenon" or it's "man"'s fault.
For earning a DOCTOR title, one have to study half their life. Whoops, not study, go through TESTS. And after that many trials, you will finally be a doctor.
Similarly, life is also a test. A TEST BY GOD.
That's why this world has so many ups and downs. If we were to life forever, will there be poverty, crime, dieseases, AND MOST OF ALL, DEATH?!
All these are tests by God.
Without realizing, you're highlighting one of the paradox of modern religions:
- God is all-knowing, all-powerful.
- God sent us here for a test/trial.
- If you combine the first two, you can deduce that God already knows the result of this trial, because he's "all-knowing". In this case, this test is useless because he already know who's good, who's bad, who's going to do what exactly, who's an atheist etc.
If you are so RATIONAL, why haven't you put up the thought of your existance?
This is wishful thinking, the basic human fear of death. "There has to be a reason! This cannot be just it! There has to be something afterwards!" People believe in what they want to believe, unfortunately. Because, in this case, it is comforting. It is comforting to think that our loved ones are not really dead, we are not going to die etc. etc.
I know that I have one shot at a life. I'm so lucky to be the one I am as any other one of the millions of sperms would give birth to a different person. I enjoy life, I have a family, I pass my genes to the next generations and I'm going to die one day. My molecules will go back to this ecosystem and my genes (at least some part) will survive within my descendants. Sorry to break the bad news, we don't have a better reason to be here than the bird on the wire outside.
Life is great as it is! I don't need hope or comfort of an imaginary afterlife to enjoy it.
I know there are other posts that I'd like to respond but I gotta run. I'll post a reply as soon as I can...