In an Atheistic worldview, is there any justice and meaning for those whose lives are dominated by misery?

As many have stated, there is no worldview. There are fights among atheists, such as those of us who object to the term "Brights" being used instead of atheists. I personally find it arrogant and refuse to define myself as a Bright.

Atheists agree there is no god or gods. Beyond that, our positions vary from issue to issue. Some even believe in ghosts and psychics. I do not.

I understand there will always be good and evil people. I agree with Steven Weinberg's statement "For good people to commit evil, that takes religion."

As has been pointed out, atheists are only united by a non-belief in any god. Their views differ radically on other subjects.

Some christians attack evolution, some are evolutionary biologists. Some muslims are all about peace, some blow up innocent people. Hard to pin a world view on any group.

Speaking for myself (an atheist) the examples you give are all the more reason not to believe there is a "just" god, and that religion hasn't stopped any atrocities.

Side note: there was some small measure of justice for Hitler. He had been certain he'd win, he would rule the world. Failure never occurred to him. In the end he was hiding in a bunker, bombs falling around him, with full knowledge he had totally failed. He then took his own life. Maybe not the "justice" he deserved but for him this would have been Hell, albeit too brief.

In my worldview, there is not really any such thing as justice--it is simply institutionalised revenge. That is not necessarily a condemnation--just an observation.

As competitive animals, some of us will suffer. It's not a question to me of over-arching ideologies like capitalism or socialism--it's just an acknowledgment of that simple fact--we compete. We are driven to win, and by that measure there must be those that lose. At best, we try to do what we can to alleviate their suffering, but we can never truly succeed. No justice.

We live, try to propagate our genes, and die.

Thank you for asking this. It's a good question.

There is whatever earthy justice we can render, and each individual must live with his or her own deeds. Does this mean some people, like Hitler, can do enormous damage and cause the deaths of millions without suffering for an eternity somewhere? Yes, it does. Many people do not like the idea that others will not somehow pay for their crimes after death if they didn't pay for them in life, but that doesn't make it true, and that doesn't mean there is any more evidence for an afterlife.

In much the same manner, a child who only lives to be five years old, born in poverty and suffering first with hunger and then with Tay-Sachs disease until going blind, losing her mind, and suffering in horrible pain, is seen as a terrible tragedy to us... and most including myself would agree that yes, it is absolutely awful. So an afterlife is preferable in this case, too, so that one might imagine this poor child in better circumstances, surrounded by love, joy, and peace never known in life. Again, we may want this, but it just does not make it true.

So what about those lives, as you say? Do they have no meaning? Well, apart from whatever meaning they have to the individual, which may be rather base needs depending on the person, the meaning is in the impact those lives have on others. Obviously, Hitler's life made an extreme impact on many lives, and he is a figure we do not want to forget, collectively, lest we are faced with such an individual again. So his life has a great deal of meaning as a lesson and a warning to many. And a voice like Anne Frank's, short though it was, still speaks to us poignantly about love, potential, and injustice.

The girl who dies of Tay-Sachs, impoverished and in pain? Perhaps her mother will not only never forget her, but will work tirelessly on behalf of other children like her. Perhaps not... we are guaranteed no fairy tale endings. But perhaps that, too, is a lesson... a call to appreciate what we have. But this meaning only exists if we let it. The lessons are only lessons if we choose to look at them that way.

I will forgive the "atheistic worldview" idea, as it's a common mistake... there are some outspoken atheists, particularly the "New Atheists" lately, who have some things in common. Even they, however, do not have a shared worldview. Atheism is simply "without theism"... no belief in a god or gods. Each atheist has his/her own worldview, though some join secular organizations with shared ideologies. You could, for instance, refer to a "Secular Humanist worldview" and you would be referring to a worldview adopted by many atheists, though certainly not all.

I am also not sure that "Most atheists become very offended at the suggestion that their lives have no meaning"... though I do not doubt you have encountered this. I am an atheist, and I do not become offended at that. I know that meaning in my life is where I make it. If I want to wallow in self-pity and decry the misery that is the human condition, I can certainly do that. Or I can find things that interest me and pursue them. Find love and enjoy it. Travel, stretch my legs, see the world I have been born into. Appreciate the people in my life, the experiences of my life, the opportunities I am afforded... knowing full well that naught but chance separates me from a three-year-old flood victim in New Orleans. And that, if I let it, can be a powerful lesson for me.

Meaning, for me, is where I find it. I work with teens... I had a difficult time as a teen, and I like helping teens find their identity and self worth. It's important to me. And so, just like that, my life has meaning. And maybe, when I die, it will have had an impact on others, and meaning for them as well.

How interesting...:

Perhaps "How would you as an atheist respond to those who's lives are dominated by injustice or misery?" would have garnered more interest and less avoidance flak.... Or, "From an Atheist mindset or baseline presuppositions, is there any....?".

Would an Existentialist or nihilist philosophy be an appropriate (or, more accurately, a justifiable) response given an atheist mindset? Probably. I would think that in the face of massive suffering, the fact that life is meaningless and the suffering pointless would be obvious to an atheist.

Another, more Nietzsche-ian response would be loosing one's mind: this is a very foreseeable atheistic response to the intensely heavy weight of injustice and futility that humanity is existentially faced with once the (very thin) veneer of civility is removed (often along with creaturely comfort...), and no recourse or way out is offered.

While one can have some meaning from relationships, personal accomplishments and memories, this involves limiting the scope to which "meaning" applies - i.e. one creates an artificial boundary within which one tries to create meaning. Unfortunately, the world shows empirically (hitler, stalin, pol pot, etc...) that such boundaries are easily surmounted and crushed, proving them feather-weight and unreal when faced with the greater existential reality of suffering, injustice and - consequently - meaninglessness.

The existential meaninglessness within the created order invades our thin-shelled spaces where we try to preserve some meaning, often by crushing others' thin-shelled spaces along the way....

There is justice if people create justice, and there is meaning if people create meaning. Maybe it won't work out for people who die young, or without any chance for justice, but those are the breaks. The flip-side is that without the pacifier of religion, oppressed masses are much more difficult for tyrants to keep down.

I do not decry justice, I stand for it and welcome it. Just as I push hard for the rights of man and do what I can to alleviate suffering.

Your question is immensely complicated, amidst all that human suffering, stirring it around for gain and profit are many religious organisations for a start, all carrying out a political, state lead agenda.

(((((((Priรciℓℓα ))))))) How are you lovely?

Thing to understand is that if some like that never receives the justice that is do to them is simply do to the fact that people close their eyes to the sh!t they have done.

The question that should really be asked is, if we simply say "well that is the way it just is:" how is that helping to make the world a better place?

Those who suffer courageously are often a source of inspiration to others. Those who do great evil often find themselves extremely miserable during this life.

Unfortunately life isnt fair. All the religious people who live in a fairy tale where the poor are rewarded and the rich are punished are kidding themselves. You have to come to accept that. Our meaning is to make other people's lives more fulfilled as ourselves. My meaning is "Im here, so i mind as well enjoy it.".