One of the major arguments in the Ecclesiastes for the existence of God is the futility of man - the idea that all human toil and effort is meaningless because it's temporary, and only the Christian God gives it meaning because it's eternal.

I have to very much disagree.

As I work on renovating my new lodgings from bare floors and walls to a home, a temporary home, this has been on my mind. Why take all this effort if in six months to a year, I'll move on and have to do it all again? If this is to all be taken down and replaced with a crafting room for my mum, why put up wallpaper? Why get furniture if I have to tear it down again?

The further down you go, the more that argument falls apart. I need stable floors, and the wallpapers I have chosen are functional, to help me navigate my bedroom while hopefully looking quite stylish in the process. I needed the blind we put up, even if it was fiddly and will only end up coming down anyways. I needed my bed with its built in desk, both for convenience and for disability reasons - if I suddenly have an episode, I can easily lie down. I needed the boxes out of the way, hence the furniture.

It all seems so futile until you break down the fact that I needed all of these changes. People need to live and while our actions and works may be temporary, we're much better off having made them. I created a home out of this bare room and I'm proud of it.

The fact they're temporary is what gives them meaning. People know their time is limited, and so every action they take is much more meaningful. Every artist, author, creator has used what limited time they have to create works, for better or worse. Does it always matter if they're perfect, or even good? No, because the creation meant something to its creator.

If the church's whole argument is that humans were made in God's image, but that everything we create is meaningless because it's temporary, does that not make us meaningless according to their rules? We are temporary, after all. If humanity is meaningless, then why would its creator (according to them) want us? The whole argument just falls apart.

I was raised by Christians, and it was reading the Bible that made me realise that organised religion, not faith, was a scam. People picked and chose what they wanted out of that book, and yet it's full of some of the most deplorable things. I am of a different faith now, a faith unattached from organised religion of any kind and sometimes it hits me just how messed up some of Christianity's teachings were. I have nothing against Christians, but I have a lot against the organised religions that prey on their faith and make them feel worthless, when their lives are so meaningful just for being there.

It's strange how renovating a house can make you so introspective.

This post was last edited 4 days, 13 hours ago.