Is it possible?
2007-03-06 02:22:16 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think they live in "the now." They realized they made mistakes but that they have learned from them and now is all that counts.
2007-03-06 02:25:27 · answer #1 · answered by DBA GODZY 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Why would they have a problem with that? Assuming they are currently trying to be a good person. What advantage would a theist have over an atheist in this respect? Do they think that god changes history and erases all the bad things they did? It's a simple matter of separating past, present and future. It's easy enough to say that you *were* a bad person, you *are* a good person now, and what you *will be* in the future, time will tell.
The only difference I can see that a theist may have the advantage in, is thinking that god will forgive them. Honestly, I see that as a cop-out. They seek forgiveness from god so they don't actually have to face the people it's actually important to seek forgiveness from; the people they wronged in the first place.
2007-03-06 10:30:11 · answer #2 · answered by The Resurrectionist 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If they have changed they could by realizing they are a good person now who made mistakes in the past. They need to forgive themselves. It would probably help them if they did what they could to rectify their past mistakes. I think that their negative past may play a role in making them an even more compassionate and thoughtful person than they might have been otherwise. Most people make mistakes along the way. Even religious people. Atheists just don't say it was religion that changed them.
2007-03-06 10:28:54 · answer #3 · answered by Zen Pirate 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You stop doing bad things. Things you would not want done to you. It's not that complicated, and may sound religous but don't steal because your not a thief, dont't kill because your not a murder, and so on. Why is so important to be accepted by god? Accept yourself and do the things you desire to do, as long as they are within the boundry's of law. What you've done in your past is the past and you can't change that but you can change now and tommorrow, so change it and once again accept yourself as a good person and you will be a good person. Many things accepted as religon can be used in your daily life without being "religous" it's just practicing being what is RIGHT.
2007-03-06 10:32:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Past" is the key word here. You don't tell us how they are living in the present. And why is this just aimed at atheists? Why does anyone consider themselves a good person? Most of us are not nearly as good as we think we are, or as good as we could be. Peace to you.
2007-03-06 10:30:27 · answer #5 · answered by Susan H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How would a Christian? I suppose he'd console himself with the pretense that he's been "washed clean in the blood of Jesus" or whatever.
But the atheist would have to actually come to terms with his past, I suppose, rather than submerging it in dogma.
It's amazing, reading the answers, the conceptions religious people steadfastly maintain about "atheists." It's so obviously "demonization of The Other." They can't understand how anybody else on the planet can live "morally" without recourse to their particular system of supernatural threats and rewards, so they assume it's impossible.
2007-03-06 10:27:57 · answer #6 · answered by jonjon418 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
First of all--consider the person. Does this person think of their past as "terrible". If not, then as far as he is concerned, he is good (or atleast not bad).
Everyone's idea of a "good" person is different. For some, it is a person who gives selflessly to those in need. To others, it is a productive member of society who helps the economy. And still, for others, it might be a person who makes scientific, technological, medical, etc advances for the good of society.
However, if the atheist did "bad" things in the past and chooses not to do them now, and to be "good" then he can regard himself as a good person.
2007-03-06 10:36:13 · answer #7 · answered by Laura Joy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Past is the past not the future. Why blame or judge a person on past behaviors if they changed and why does it only have to be atheist with a terrible past?
2007-03-06 10:35:12 · answer #8 · answered by daisy322_98 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Buy a journal and write down things that happened in your life. Talk yourself through those problems and analyze why you think your past was so terrible. Don't focus on what you could/would/should have done, only on what you can do in the future. Remember that moderation is the key, and that nobody wills us but ourselves.
2007-03-06 10:28:26 · answer #9 · answered by Julian 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't have a concept of "soul-washing," being made pure as snow by the blood of the whatever, but with courage and conviction, one can rise above almost anything. Atheists are as capable as anyone else of admitting past wrongs and learning from their mistakes.
2007-03-06 10:24:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Its all in the intention.
Do you intend good things for others as well as yourself?
Do you work to produce goodness to the world like you expect goodness back?
If you work for your own goodness, youre not evil, youre just utterly selfish. But if you work towards goodness in general, then youre good without being selfish.
Being good and being selfish are not necessarily opposite concepts, but selfishness is a bad habit that should be transcended to find a more humble ground to walk on.
For being good is not a state of being, its a state of becoming, and demands constant work.
2007-03-06 10:30:09 · answer #11 · answered by Antares 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋