Do you think they would be as bad a person as possible, since they know they will be going to hell anyway?
If you are a Christian, what would you advise someone who rejects your religion, what his motivation should be for being a good person?
2006-09-08 11:37:26 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Religion does not dictate ones morals and ethics.
Blessings )O(
2006-09-08 11:39:37 · answer #1 · answered by Epona Willow 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Good question. It's important for people to really think about such things from time to time.
As a Humanist, I don't act morally because I fear hell or desire the comforts of heaven. I do so because reason tells me that the world works much better when people cooperate and try to live in harmony. We're all in this together, and selfishness only leads to chaos, which can only result in unhappiness. I enjoy the benefits of civilization, so I support that civilization by doing my part to make it run smoothly.
To really answer your question, I guess I would have to assume that something earth-shattering were to happen to cause me to believe that hell really exists and that nonbelievers like myself really are doomed to go there after death. Would that change how I act in life? I suppose it might cause me to reconsider my stance on religion, but it absolutely would not inspire me to become a bad person. My reasons for striving to treat my fellow human beings with kindness and consideration wouldn't change at all. We're still all in this together.
2006-09-08 18:41:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They don't believe they are going to hell because they don't believe in anything. Our religion is something that is right to us and as a Christian we think that everyone should think as us but this is wrong. How one carry themselves is how the divine spirit (God) judges us. If one is a atheist doesn't use the moral values of a god then he needs our laws to live by. This is why the ACLU is trying to get God out of the laws so they can put forth what they deem right which is a fearful thought
2006-09-08 19:02:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear, Atheists do not believe in a hell or a heaven because they all fit into being a creation of some deity.
HOWEVER, we don't need to believe in religion in order to have basic ethics. Even religious believers do bad things. (Google/Wikipedia "Fred Phelps".)
Ethics have nothing to do with whether you believe in hell or not, it's all about your mentality and how you were raised.
As an atheist I do not have the internal urge to kick wounded puppies. Nor do any stable-minded atheists feel this way. We're human beings, we feel emotions, we have ethics, and many of us (that don't dislike animals) would want to help said puppies.
I just don't feel the desire to pray to someone I do not believe in.
2006-09-08 18:45:55 · answer #4 · answered by Belie 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's important to understand that believing and behaving because one believes in god and wants eternal reward and to avoid punishment is a very very sophomoric perspective of spirituality. I meet so many people who follow a thought system where they strive every day to be good and think that if they do they will get the eternal reward; they also don't like the idea that everyone makes it into heaven (they respond with 'then why do good' or 'why should they get the same reward as me when I've worked so hard'). This is EXACTLY the kind of thought system Jesus tries to get across with the 'good' son in the prodigal son parable. It's important to see what's going on here.
2006-09-08 18:41:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Being a christian does NOT make you a GOOD person...I am Atheist and I do not believe in god or heaven and hell or any of the other s h i t u do...that does not make me a bad person. I have morals and I am good person. That I learned from my parents not from some made up god.
2006-09-08 18:43:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Atheists are good because it feels good to be good. That is the only reason anyone should need for being good. Trying to BUY your way into Heaven by being good is a very selfish motivation, and in my opinion is not BEING GOOD. It is being selfish and doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
2006-09-08 18:43:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If Christians believe in Hell, then why do so many of them still do bad things? Shouldn't they all be good?
2006-09-08 18:47:42 · answer #8 · answered by BuffyFromGP 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If they believed in hell, they wouldn't be atheists. There are still laws to follow, and going to prison is more real of a threat than hell.
2006-09-08 18:40:16 · answer #9 · answered by i luv teh fishes 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe there is a hell, neither do I
Now, there are no atheists in fox holes.
that is a very famous saying because if you believe that this life is all there is you wouldn't give it up for anything. Religion has to preach people into war by promising a heavenly reward can't prove them wrong until after your dead. So they are pretty safe.
Religious people go to war not Atheists. they may get all this world has to offer. But wouldn't sacrifice life to get it.
Everyday is precious. Traditionally they are kinder because they don't look down on others who are not there religion.
they feel sorry for them because they are so mislead.
Have to be in a religon to be a killer.
2006-09-08 18:44:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Um, no one "knows they are going to hell". It's not the sort of thing one voluntarily chooses. If one believes that such a place exists, then they are called "Christians" and spend most of their time trying to avoid going there. If they don't believe it exists, then why would they care?
2006-09-08 18:42:00 · answer #11 · answered by abram.kelly 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋