What we have here is a list of trite, mostly useless if not wrong, observations, followed by an explanation that "religious people were right all along", withou

What we have here is a list of trite, mostly useless if not wrong, observations, followed by an explanation that "religious people were right all along", without anything to back this up. The essence of religion is not "finding meaning by artistically living an authentic life", for several reasons : Religion is not a way to find meaning. Religion gives you a meaning (Either revealed by a god to a prophet, or made up on the spot by the latter) that hopefully transcends your mortal life (i.e. the trite observations listed above). This meaning involves respecting things that are deemed sacred (divine commandments, symbols, rites or whatnot), in the hope of gaining something (going to heaven, escape this meaningless cycle of reincarnation, and so on) "Living artistically", whatever that means, has nothing to do with religion. Artists may find their inspiration in their beliefs, but there are plenty of atheist artists, and there are even more religious people who have absolutely no kind of artistic talent, taste, or inclination. Finally, the phrase "authentic life" is pretty much devoid of meaning. How do you decide which life is more authentic ? Is living a hedonistic life of excess ending by an overdose less authentic than dying alone at seventy-eight after years of hard work ? Or more authentic ? What are your criteria ? Besides, to "creatively speculate on what values you want for life and why" is something most people never do and don't particularly care about. It's certainly not the only rational thing to do. It is just as rational to decide that yes, life is a pointless maelstrom of absurdity that never amounts to anything, and keep on doing what you do, just because.