If GOD does not exist then how do you practice your freedom?

Question

What actually sets your standard for morals and values? Do you concider kindness necessary or insignificant? Do you consider the human race an accident of nature, or purposeful? How do you define your existence?

Answer 1

I am free exactly because my mind is not enslaved by the thought that there's an InvisibleSkyGuy watching everything I say, think and do, 24/7 and un-enslaved by the thought that this InvisibleSkyGuy wants me to love him and suck up to him 24/7 and if I don't he'll throw me into a pit of fire for all of eternity.
I suffer no paranoia or other delusions of such critters.
I am as free from fear as I choose to be.

I try to treat others as I'd like to be treated, with kindness, because of what every good farmer knows: As you sow, so will you reap.
I try not to harm others for the same reason.

I see the human race as a pleasant accident - we happen to live on the Goldilocks Planet in a Goldilocks Universe (The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life? by Paul Davies). Not too hot and not too cold.
"According to Davies, there are more than 30 known examples in physics and cosmology of extraordinarily precise fine-tuning. For instance, the ratio of the mass of the neutron to that of the proton is 1.00137841870. Without that slight deviation in weight (the neutron is about 0.1 per cent heavier), there would be no atoms, no chemistry, no life."

I don't define my existence in any conscious way - I just am - the best me that I can be under the current circumstances.

.

Answer 2

What makes me do good for good's sake? I guess the standard was set by my earlier religious upbringing. The morals and values are all good in most, if not all religions. As an atheist, i don't condemn religions, my quarrel is with irrationality, wishful thinking, superstitions, intellectual dishonesty, and all other forms of thinking that keep mankind mired in darkness, ignorance and hate.

The human race is the new and improved model, the 15 other hominids are now extinct. Our development of the cerebral cortex put us over the top. An accident of nature, i'd say the natural progression of nature.

Human existence is the result of nothing but randomness and the survival of the fittest. We, as individuals, are nothing but the result of a random encounter between an egg and one of many millions of spermatozoa.

My own existence, as an individual, is an accident based on randomness. There is not one scintilla of evidence that any other factor was involved in my creation. There is no meaning, no significance, no purpose and no manifest destiny to human life.

Religious persons may counter this statement by claiming that a god or gods must have imbued human life with meaning. Not even a scintilla of objective evidence supports this supposition. Merely because the Bible says so, does not make it so.

Where's the proof?

Answer 3

"If GOD does not exist then how do you practice your freedom?"
I don't really understand this question, except to say that I think I would be much less of a freethinker if my mind were constrained enough to believe in a deity. My freedom is inherent in me as it is in everyone, and is reduced only by my sense of personal responsibility (a good thing), or by coercion from others (bad).

"What actually sets your standard for morals and values?"
My morality and ethics are defined by my life experiences and my rational thought. If you had to give them a label the closest match would be libertarian. I believe we should all be free to do and to live however each of us pleases, so long as our actions do no harm to others--economically (financially), physically, or to their freedoms to likewise live and do as they please.

"Do you concider kindness necessary or insignificant?"
Necessary, but not to the point where it must be coerced, because if you're forcing someone to act altruistically, you're not actually teaching them kindness, only resentment.

"Do you consider the human race an accident of nature, or purposeful?"
The human RACE was a quirk, though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a random accident, since it was evolutionarily beneficial for us to develop large, intelligent brains. As for purpose, that is something that each individual must discover or create for themselves. There is no over-arcing Grand Purpose for the human race as a whole, as that would mean that we are all just small automatons doing what we've been Programmed to do.

"How do you define your existence?"
As a constant struggle to be more than I am now--more intelligent, more wise, more enlightened, and yeah, I guess more rich too. :)

Answer 4

I created a Yahoo account just to chime in on this-- Great question. The plain and simple truth of the matter is that not believing in God is how we practice our freedom. Another truth; no matter your beliefs, morality does not come from God or the Bible or any religious scripture. Kindness is always necessary to a good person, which isn't to say that there aren't bad people out there. There are. But blaming that on lack of belief is ignorant, myopic, pessimistic and misinformed. Although I do appreciate your curiosity to know the facts instead of just writing off a group of people due to misguided notions.

Answer 5

i think of the priority isn't no rely if god exists 'right here', yet no rely if god exists 'someplace'. 'Gods' have been worshiped using a loss of expertise, administration or concern of the unknown. as an occasion, villagers praying for stable climate so their harvest might develop nicely. that they had no way of understanding what the climate may well be so they theory appeasing 'some thing' might help them. Likewise many everybody is uncertain or do purely no longer desire to question the theory that there is or would be a god because of the wealth of unknowns that still exist in this international. eg. once I die will I burn in eternal hell because of the fact I regarded at naughty photos or because of the fact i did no longer say the main appropriate 'particular words' on the main appropriate time on any given sunday. all of us comprehend there's a spoon because of the fact we are able to verify it, we made it, and all of us comprehend what it does. The question approximately God is diverse because of the fact we gained't see it, we 'would have' easily made it, yet we do no longer relatively comprehend what it does. concern of the unknown, the desire to experience mandatory, and need that there is a few thing extra are lots of the climate that make human beings frown upon questions concerning to the existance God. historic previous has shown that a super style of the previous unknowns are actually relatively nicely regular, and the character of 'God' would have had to alter somewhat because of the better expertise we've. i assume if there are no longer to any extent further questions human beings ought to then start to question the existance of god, yet (and that i hate to apply this occasion), that action picture 'warning signs' form of confirmed that even after some thing a substantial as an alien invasion human beings will nevertheless have faith in god, and preserve their faith and their faith. nicely a minimum of Mel Gibson will besides .. Nuff suggested relatively :)

Answer 6

The only difference with the rest of the living things in this planet if that we can question our existence. Are we more important or superior for having this ability?I don't think so. We are part of the Circle of Life in the micro and macro Universe.
My morals and values came from everywhere and they can change. Change is the only constant in the Universe. Change is evolution.

Answer 7

My morals come from a desire to not hurt others or myself. My morals come from an understanding of action and consequence. I consider kindness necessary and signifigant. I see value in all things and in life. I do things because I see the beauty and the value in them, not because some invisible man in the sky will reward or punish me like a child. I see the world as it REALLY is, absent of religious mythology. It actually gives life MORE meaning this way, not less.

p.s. I am not a true atheist, although I do think it is based in logic and reason

Answer 8

God is a concept, and, like all concepts, it's meaning and understanding is rooted in its relation to you. That is how we understand and process information, in a relational way. Likewise, morals and ethics are simple built in, because of our mechanics of empathy; mirror neurons. We understand what others feel because we actually *do* feel what others feel when we observer them, in a muted sense (see mirror neurons in wikipedia). It is built in to treat others as we regard ourselves (in a complete sense...subconscious )
That is the meaning behind Jesus's statement "through me you will enter heaven". If you behave altruistically and compassionately as he did, you would make your inner and local existence heavenly because you are always looking to help other improve, and thus see yourself improving, filling your internal experience with that contentment and happiness that helping others brings. Jesus and the Buddha said the same things, its just that Western society has taken Jesus's words literal instead of more metaphorical.

Kindness is a natural leaning of life and existence, just as compassion and stillness are. When a stone rolls down a hill, does it keep just keep going? No, after a while it becomes still and peaceful. When someone splashes water, does it start a massive wave? No, it settles and stills out. When someone is kind to you, do you get excited and unruly? No, you too become contented and peaceful. Natural law "leans" towards a more peaceful, and thus more stable, state.

My 2 cents anyway. ^_^

Answer 9

Actually, I consider God to be a very violent and vengeful being. At least the biblical one. And the "righteous" persons in the bible are for the most part poor examples of morality (Lot surrendered his daughters to a rape gang, then slept with them, David and many others had concubines and slaves, Joab was tortured on a bet, Moses killed in anger, Sampson for revenge, etc.)

Of course kindness is significant. Especially tolerance of other cultures as opposed to the intolerance of it directed in Deuturonomy. And compassion for other nations (especially civilians), unlike that shown in biblical Jericho or Egypt. And equality, unlike the implied consent for slavery and sexism in the 9th and 10th commandments.

I consider the human race a product of nature. "Accident" is a subjective term, and a useless one in this context. I haven't decided how to define my existence, but I have decided how not to. I do not intend to exist for the purpose of attempting to appease a God under threat of damnation. I do not intend to pick and choose rules from a poorly translated bronze-age book as a source of morals. I will not define my life by a religion (any religion) that is redefined at every generation to suit their goals or cultural bias. And I will not forget that even without God's "presence", I am part of a NATURAL universe that is vast, complex, wonderous, and suitable for a million lifetimes of personal growth.

Answer 10

How could we have been given the "breath of life" If God did not exist?

When people tell me to prove that God exists, this is what I tell them: First, I want you to prove to me that he does NOT exist." There is no way to prove he doesn't exist. If that person has never seen God, that doesn't mean that he does not exist. I've never seen a human brain before, does that mean we don't have one? No.

But, at the same time, just because many have not seen God, does not mean that NO ONE has not seen him. We were given laws by someone... let's say that person came up with the idea of laws on their own. Who created that person or the planet they live on? It all leads to one thing. The litteral existance of A Supreme Creator.