A common reason used to argue that the existence of a god is relevant to us is that a god is necessary to have purpose or meaning in life. Indeed, it is common to hear Christians assert that atheists cannot possibly have any sort of meaning or purpose to their lives without the Christian god. But is this true? Is some god really a prerequisite for meaning and purpose in one's life?
I honestly don't see how this can be so. In the first place, it can be argued that even if a god did exist, that existence would not provide either meaning or purpose to a person's life. Christians seem to maintain that serving their god's will is what gives them purpose, but I hardly think that this is admirable. Mindless obedience might be praiseworthy in dogs and other domesticated animals, but it certainly isn't of much value in mature adult humans. Moreover, it is debatable whether or not a god which desires such uncritical obedience is worthy of any obedience in the first place.
The idea that this god is supposed to have created us has been used to justify the doctrine of obedience as a fulfilling one's purpose in life; however, the proposition that a creator is automatically justified in ordering its creation to do whatever it desires is one which requires support and should not be accepted out of hand. In addition, a good deal of support would be needed to claim that this would serve as an adequate purpose in life.
Of course, all of that assumes that we could clearly discern the will of the alleged creator. Quite a few religions in human history have asserted the existence of a creator-god, yet none of them have managed to find much agreement as to what such a creator-god might want from us humans. Even within religions, there is tremendous diversity of opinion as to the desires of the god being worshipped. It seems that if such a god did exist, it probably wouldn't have done such a poor job as to allow this confusion.
I can draw no other conclusion from this situation than that if some sort of creator-god exists, it is highly unlikely that we'll be able to figure out what it wants of us, if anything at all. The scenario which seems to play out is that people project their own hopes and fears onto whatever god they worship. People who fear and hate modernity project that onto their god and, as a result, find a god which wants them to continue in their fear and hatred. Others are open to change and willing to love others regardless of differences, and thus find in a god which is tolerant of change and variation, and wants them to continue as they are.
Although the latter group is more pleasant to spend time with, their position is not actually any better founded than the former. There is no more reason to think that there is a benevolent and loving creator-god than that there is instead a mean-spirited and fearful creator-god. And, in either case, what that god might want from us - if discoverable - cannot automatically give us purpose in our lives.
On the other hand, it is easily arguable that meaning and purpose in life are ready to find - indeed, create - without the existence of, much less belief in, any sort of god. Meaning and purpose at their heart require valuation, and valuation must begin with the individual. For this reason, they must exist first and foremost in the individual. Others outside of us (including gods) may suggest possible paths for us where meaning and purpose could perhaps develop, but ultimately that will depend upon us.
If the existence of a god is not actually relevant to how we live our lives and certainly isn't necessary to being a good person, then debating the existence of any god may not be too important. You might choose to debate the existence of some particular god in order to pass the time or hone debating skills, but it would appear that one of the more effective response to the oft heard "Why don't you believe in God?" is "Why care about gods in the first place?"
So, could it matter that any gods exist? Maybe, maybe not. Some particular god could matter, depending upon its characteristics and intentions. However, the point which must be recognized here is that it cannot be automatically assumed that any god which exists is necessarily important. It rests entirely with the theist to first explain who and why their god could even matter to us before we use valuable time to decide if it even exists. Although this might initially sound harsh, we are really under no obligation to entertain the idea of something existing when it has no relevance to our lives.
