If there is no God?

Question

If there is no God, why live a good life? Why be respectful and law abiding? Why be faithful in your dealings? Who determines what is right or wrong? Who determines what is immoral and what is moral? Why not just become greedy and gluttonous? Why care for anyone else but yourselves? Life would be without purpose if there is no God. However praise be there is a God, who has given us life and the chance of an eternal life of happiness

Answer 1

See that's the thing. Christians believe that there is a father figure watching over us 24/7. He knows every little transgression even including what people are thinking about sinning about (also a sin). They believe that God will judge them one day and if they fail in this judgment process they will be sentenced to eternity in Hell where they will likely be tortured forever.

An atheist or agnostic on the other hand does not really believe in this sort of judgment. Therefore when they decide to be good people it is not out of fear of a divine spanking it is simply because they are good people. Being a good person voluntarily is far better than being a good person simply to avoid divine punishment.

Answer 2

"If there is no God, why live a good life?" Because there is me.

"Why be respectful and law abiding?" Because there is a society.

"Why be faithful in your dealings?" Because there are other people.

"Who determines what is right or wrong?" Law, your consciousness and society (in that order).

"Who determines what is immoral and what is moral?" Who cares about morality, other than religions?

"Why not just become greedy and gluttonous?" Because there are other more interesting values (even outside religions). But what's wrong with gluttony, anyway?

"Why care for anyone else but yourselves?" If you cannot understand that outside your religions values, I think there's very little I can do for you, man.

"Life would be without purpose if there is no God. However praise be there is a God, who has given us life and the chance of an eternal life of happiness" Life is full of purpose, even without a god. There are other people you care for, there are feelings, there are your personal needs, there are your friends, your family, there are intellectual interests, there are films to watch, music to hear, books to read, thoughts to come up with and share, thoughts to receive from others, help to give, help to receive, discussions to hold...

There is a lot more to this life than just religions, you see.

Answer 3

I live a good life because I know I should treat people the way I want to be treated. Nobody wants to be treated like trash so nobody should act that way. If everyone treated each other like garbage, then humanity would have died off. No god needs apply to make people good. At least not me.

Answer 4

You make your own reality. Why do you need g-d to be a good person?
There are several levels of moral development, and as you progress you rely less on external strictures.
Having to rely on the Bible to tell you what's right and wrong doesn't help you when you encounter a situation not in the Bible. (viz Terri Schiavo and stem cells, not to mention nanotechnology)

Answer 5

I'm not saying that there isn't a god.
However, I don't see the existance of a god as a reason to be a good person. When you do good deeds, you feel better about your self, and you make others feel better as well.

Answer 6

The way I read it-'Question asked-Question answered'.

Answer 7

If there was no God, life and all that exist is no more..........