I've been Christian, Agnostic (rather more a Deist because I retained a belief in a "higher being") and now I find myself studying the Bible and going to Church again, although there is some lingering doubts, but my life has meaning! I mean seriously, if there's no God, then why shouldn't we be totally self serving individuals? Right now, I'm finding it hard to believe that an Athiest cannot be anything but a selfish individual (because there's nothing else to serve but himself). I'm not trying to indict or judge the individuals themselves, just judge or understand the ideologies. I can certainly see why someone might not believe in a God because in some lines of reasoning that makes sense given the current condition of the World... But I want to understand why some people feel their man-made ideologies work to serve a better purpose, and are not just some random charade. Or do you just not give a flip?
2006-10-15 08:51:38 · 15 answers · asked by Jay 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
There's nothing, other than belief in the command of God, stopping YOU from knocking over 7-11's and robbing banks and cheating on your taxes and lying to your friends and killing people who piss you off? REALLY? I find that really incredibly disturbing.
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Why should an Atheist be moral, without a god to make him to do so? You may as well ask why he should use his head for something besides a mobile hat rack. Morality is a built-in condition of humanity; the moral tendency exists in just about everyone, barring psychopaths. And that, luckily enough, leads us to the foundational principle of morality: empathy. Psychopaths lack empathy with their fellow human beings, and cannot be truly said to have a moral impulse.
The principle of morality is empathy; what differs are our approaches to that principle, and how we interpret our feelings of empathy in order to make a coherent system.
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Humans are social animals, and to be maximally successful they must co-operate with each other. This is a good enough reason to discourage most atheists from "anti-social" or "immoral" behavior, purely for the purposes of self-preservation.
Many atheists behave in a "moral" or "compassionate" way simply because they feel a natural tendency to empathize with other humans. Attributing such a phenomenon to a deity is unecessary.
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Divine Command Theory, the brand of morality assumed to be held to by proponents of the Transcendental argument for the existence of God, makes moral principles contingent upon God's will. And if God created the universe, then it could be the case, for instance, that God makes gratuitous cruelty an absolute good. Furthermore, there is conflict amongst religious people about what God's will actually consists of, and there seems to be no way to rationally reconcile them (assuming the equal standing of all claims to divine inspiration).
2006-10-15 08:54:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋
When you used to pray, at the time did you really believe that you were praying to a 'mystical God figure?' Or did you simply pray to an essence, or pray simply for the sake of praying? I'm intrigued by your statement involving God being a mystical figure. I'm hoping that you didn't make God into an image (like an old white dude) and hope that your imagination of God would help you with your problems. Personally, I can't change or alter my ideas of God into a mystical type of figure. As soon as I try to do that, I know that that is not really God. The only reason I can talk about God as being a mystical type of figure is because it is portrayed as that through certain scriptural references and people's misunderstood beliefs about God. But, as to answer your question, you find meaning in the things that you are passionate about. If you love music, you become a musician, if you love helping people, you become a doctor or a lawyer or a politican or a teacher or a husband or wife. Things can have meaning to them. It all depends upon your own choice.
2016-03-28 10:21:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume you're not attempting to imply that atheists lead pointless lives. If you are, I'd be more than happy to list several dozen who have led/are leading very meaningful lives. My main focus is helping others, and being available to my family. Is that pointless simply because I don't believe in your god? I'm offended by your statement "an Athiest cannot be anything but a selfish individual" - it shows your lack of understanding of atheism. These men were atheists - do you consider them selfish? Abe Lincoln. James Madison. John Adams. Thomas Jefferson. George Washington. (Granted, Jefferson and Washington were deists.) Well? That's all I have to say about that.
2006-10-15 09:37:27 · answer #3 · answered by ReeRee 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I never find life pointless. I always have something to do or somewhere to go. I help people, I read to kids and the elderly. I work at soup kitchens, I am a women's right, animal's rights, and environmental activist. Most of these people are Agnostic or Atheists.
Being Christan has nothing to do with how good your are on the inside. In fact, I find them more selfish than most people. I feel that religions make people more upset by putting laws on them and they cause people to judge one another. I have strong morals and I am a good person, but I will never follow a religion.
2006-10-15 08:59:29 · answer #4 · answered by Voodoo Experience 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Atheists and Agnostics are no more selfish than anyone else. We just prefer a life on earth with the people we love and respect rather than some place which likely doesn't even exist. Many of us give to charity - both time and money - and do things to make life on earth better for our fellow human beings. Why does one need to have a religion to do all that.
2006-10-15 08:56:10 · answer #5 · answered by genaddt 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
A lot of people actually find their meaning in life in helping others, regardless of religion. There are also plenty of religious types who could care less about such things.
I don't understand why someone would need to believe in God to want to make the world they exist in a better place; in fact, if this is the only world we're ever going to live in and there's no afterlife, wouldn't one be *more* inclined to try and improve it?
2006-10-15 08:59:36 · answer #6 · answered by angk 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You're right. I'm selfish. I live life just to make me happy. Doing charity work, writing essays and book I hope will change society for the better, getting a masters in liberal arts, working every night to help my parents out financially, and hoping for a family and my own home in the future keep me happy. I'm such a horrible person.
2006-10-15 08:55:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Making assumptions of people you've never been a part of and trying to speak from shoes you've never filled. Interesting.
Our lives are givin meaning by how we live it and what we do with it. There are many non believers who give a lot of themselves to others, I don't consider that to be a selfish life.
2006-10-15 09:21:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I found life more pointless as a Christian. Once you decide to follow Jesus and you're convinced you're going to heaven, what's the point in being on Earth?
2006-10-15 09:02:40 · answer #9 · answered by phaig93 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you're saying that people become christians because they need some meaning for their lives? You go to church because you believe there is a god, not because you need there to be some meaning for your life
actually your post is totally false ZERO_COOL, look up the term "social contract"
2006-10-15 08:55:06 · answer #10 · answered by Nick F 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋