Athiests: Why is killing wrong?

Question

If I kill every male I come into contact with, won't that increase my chances of finding a mate?

NOTE: I do NOT condone this behavior, I simply want to understand why atheists (specifically empiricistic atheists) believe that killing is always wrong.

NOTE: Every male would not include my personal offspring.

Answer 1

I could point you to this...

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5F489402-E7F2-99DF-38D34562DB09D0D5

(Or other basic biology)

But somehow I suspect you'll still think it's because a Canaanite God of War "said so."

Answer 2

Who said atheists believe killing is either always wrong or always right in the first place?

Killing without justification is wrong because it takes the life of another human being without cause. If you need a God to tell you that, then you've got a pretty unevolved mind.

Killing in some circumstances, while not to be celebrated, is justifiable, such as in self-defense against another person also using deadly force in attempting to kill you.

The reason you don't kill every male you come in contact with, or even any for that matter, is that doing so would not necessarily enhance the probability of passing on your genes and in fact would probably decrease the probability. Certainly the males would view you as a mortal threat and seek to kill or otherwise incapacitate you as soon as possible, thereby rendering your plan a zero sum game. Also, it does not follow that females will want to mate with you just because you exhibit the trait of being good at killing; in fact, females may view you as just as much of a threat as the males do, and conspire with other males to kill you before you can successfully pass on your genes.

I suggest you read up on game theory. It helps to explain how individuals maximize their survivability quotient in group settings.

Answer 3

Because it makes for a poor society. From a purely practical point of view, living in a society in which you have to worry about whether the next guy will kill you or not is fairly unproductive. This hurts everybody's chance of survival.

If you do start killing every male you come into contact with, you will severely decrease your chances of finding a mate, unless you like jailcell sex. Even if killing were legal, you'd be outcast by most females for being too dangerous to be around.

From a personal level, we are a congretory animal. We have a need to feel compassion for those in our group. Killing breaks that group structure and we feel empty. Personally, I value the people around me, so I don't want to kill them. Life would be too boring with nobody to talk to.

Answer 4

You're assuming there is such a thing as an absolute "wrong" -- that's a religion-based point of view. There is no such thing.

Religious people themselves recognize this: there are times in nearly every religion when it's OK to kill, so it's NOT always wrong. Self-defense, times of war...these and many others are excused killings by religious people. How did they arrive at those conclusions, especially since their own bible tells them quite simply "though shalt not kill?" (don't go down that "it says murder, not kill" route -- it says no such thing). They arrived at it the same way non-religious people did: by a practical evaluation of rules that make living in complex societies possible. Killing is bad (notice I didn't say wrong) in societies for several reasons:
-- you're taking away someone else's right to live
-- you are usually acting absolutely selfishly, and not in the best interests of your society or group
-- you are depriving the family of the person you kill someone who might earn money to support them, take care of them, help them survive, etc.

So *societies* have decided that most of the time killing is BAD (not wrong). But sometimes it can be allowed, such as self-defense, times of war, etc. Those rational rules come from thinking people, not mythical gods. They are intended to let us live together in large complex societies, which are themselves an evolutionary advantage. Because humans have feelings, if you go around killing every male you meet you're likely to get killed yourself (for revenge or in self-defense) -- not a very good strategy for increasing your odds of survival :) Try using your brain to think instead of just hold up your hair.

Peace.

Answer 5

"Why is killing wrong?"

Because as a social creature our natural behavior is to work together in harmony and not alienate ourselves from the group (this is the source of morality). If you murder others you will not be accepted, and almost ceratinly wil be hunted down and killed yourself. It is necessary as a social creature to follow and obey the laws of the group, and as such it is wrong if you desire to survive.



"If I kill every male I come into contact with, won't that increase my chances of finding a mate?"

No, but it will decrease competition for finding a mate. You still have to win the female over.

Answer 6

>Why is killing wrong?
It's not. At least in the bible, it happens quite often.

I kill animals all the time. A man has to eat ya know.

>If I kill every male I come into contact with, won't that increase my chances of finding a mate?
Only if your target mate is attracted to sociopaths.

And odds are, eventually you'll come across a bigger male who will kill you first. Then your odds are 0%.

Answer 7

Your question is highly hypothetical since you would not be allowed to slay many men before being either apprehended by law enforcement or slain in retaliation!! There are women who find convicts appealing, so you might attract one of those while incarcerated and if permitted conjugal visits (on death row? I am doubtful!) could possibly reproduce. To the gist of your question: Most everyone would condone or excuse killing in self-denfense or to protect one's family or an endangered person. After that, atheism is not synonymous with amorality. Atheists are no more likely to regard murder as appropriate as are religious people. In general, atheists tend to be thoughtful and to have educated themselves spiritually to the juncture that they have concluded that the case for god is, at the least, questionable...

Answer 8

It's a simple answer, because it's wrong to harm anything. Including animals, the environment, other people....It serves no purpose to harm or kill anything, so why would you do it? Atheists aren't against people, or even christians. We just don't believe in god, and I can guarantee you that my morals and values are stronger than 80% of christians are. It's rare that you meet a hypocritical atheist.....not so rare to meet a hypocritical christian. Also...there sure is a lot of killing in that book you guys love so much, so maybe that's what you should address with yourself.

Answer 9

For me as an atheist human life is precious beyond words, because I appreciate the enormity of the luck and coincidence it took to give humanity the chance to develop. What's more, my conviction that there is no afterlife also makes life extremely precious to me. And then, I am a human being myself, I am able to feel with my fellow humans, and I do so. I also aspire for a society which promotes the common good and the best chances for everyone, and this is best achieved with an overall agreement that violence and destruction must be prohibited.

Answer 10

Killing is always wrong because if I allow killing to my own ends then I allow the killing of me.

If killing is wrong - according to the bible - how comes the burning of heretics, witches and the millions of others who would not / could not toe the Christian line.

The bible is ambiguous about the point of killing. One of the ten commandmeants says you must not kill yet much of the book goes on to glorify killing by the followers. May be the bible ment - you should not kill any of your own supporters the rest are fair game.

Answer 11

Killing is a violation of the social contract all members of a society must adhere to. It is wrong to me to kill others simply because I do not wish to be killed, and society as a whole agrees to the principle. There is no need for God's commandment "Thou shalt not kill."

If God's commandments are followed simply because they are God's commandments, then the concept of God's righteousness has been severely marginalized. God could have just as easily had said "Thou shalt no eat Peanut Butter" and it would have the same meaning and impact.

But if instead you believe there was a reason that God instructed people not to kill each other, then why is it so hard to comprehend that people might be able to tap into that same source of morality that God relied upon?