If man just happened as a fact of evolution, and there is no God, then where does “Good” come from?

Question

How come this planet is not ruled by might alone?

Answer 1

Great question man.....and i totally agree with u, think this might be the great slap on the face of the evolutionists....

Answer 2

Ironically, I got this answer from a Catholic:

By definition, "good" is what is creative and develops life while "evil" destroys life. This seems to be a very clear-cut verdict in favor of evolution. Good things lead to greater survival of the species, while evil actions lead towards risk of utter destruction.

Nature is far more mighty than any human ever will be. Death comes to us all, no matter how hard we try to keep it at bay. These forces trump "might makes right" and lead to more complicated rules.

For example, before modern medicine and protection, sex with multiple partners held the distinct possibility of contracting and spreading venereal diseases - some deadly, but most causing infertility. Now imagine two groups of people: one group practices limited sex partnerships which limit the spread of STDs and the other practices ritual group sex and prostitution without protection. Which group eventually outnumbers the other? It's very simple. Add superstition on top of things and now people are saying that the suffering of the second group comes from God, that the sins of the father are punished from generation to generation (viruses passed via birth).

Other rules, considering the political power of ancient - and even modern - religious leaders, are then easily explained as supporting the religious structure. Those that dared break THOSE rules ended up having other "accidents." If you doubt this, read Plato's "Apology" (Socrates imprisoned and sentanced to death for heresy), read about the Spanish Inquisition, the Cathars, and the Knights Templar. In the long-term, churches work to murder those that disagree. So once again we are talking about survival.

Then you have societies that had no morals or ethics that managed to kill themselves off. Again, nature selects those societies that have morality.

That all said, it would interesting to study the evolutionary value of religion, let alone just morals and ethics...

Answer 3

OK I'm going to elaborate your point for here ( hope you don't mind)

What you are getting at is not that atheists have no morals, actually to the contrary that if there was no God ( atheists were right) then no one would have morals. And in fact that fact that Atheists do have morals is an indication that they may be wrong.

Compared to the random possibilities of man invented morality societies across the global and across history have an amazingly similar moral code. Yes there a variations in priority and focus but more is in common then not. If atheistic evolution were true, wouldn't there be periods of time in certain locations it was deemed good to be mean and cheater everyone, or be a coward and run away and in Battle ( that's certainly help you survive).

Answer 4

Evolution. No deity is required.

Why Christians Must Steal From Secular Morality:
http://www.caseagainstfaith.com/submissions/steal_morality.htm
Christians must steal their moral rules from secular morality. They have no choice, as the Bible does not offer a moral system, it only offers a series of contradictory commands and a supposed threat of punishment in the "afterlife" for not following them - a punishment that is given equally to all violators - whatever the sin.

The Bible does nothing and can do nothing towards inculcating moral behavior on its own. Christians must steal from secular moral systems, and then merely graft their 'God threats' on top of this moral system. This is necessary. And the reason for this is simple: there is no morality in the Bible and there can be no morality in the Bible, because the Bible holds that 1) ALL 'sins' are equivalent (destroying any moral sense) AND 2) all moral behavior is immaterial, because works cannot save a person, AND finally all people are damned from birth.

In reality, Christians realize that some actions are more moral than others. They realize that moral actions exist in a hierarchy, and that rape is far worse than stealing a pencil. Yet the Bible holds that all 'sins' are equal, as all deserve the same punishment.

Christians also realize that humans can be moral agents... they expect moral behavior from others, and they view their own children as something to value. Yet the Bible holds that man is worthless, that he cannot be a moral agent, and that his sole salvation comes from grace. However, since Christians realize, implicitly, that all of these these points are obviously, prima facie false, they must steal from secular systems, that hold that 1) man obviously has a value 2) all 'sins' are obviously not equivalent and 3) a person cannot be held to be doing anything 'immoral' without intent.


Origin of the 10 commandments:
http://www.atheistalliance.org/outreach/news-2002_spring.php
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/ten_commandments.htm

Morality Without God:
http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/cohen.html

Morals Without Gods:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=sharris_26_3

Answer 5

Ultimately it is ruled by might alone. Haven't you noticed the most powerful military nation making its presence felt all over the planet. Can you imagine if Costa Rica tried that , who would take any notice.
We are governed by civil laws but in the last resort these are backed up by force.

Answer 6

"Good" comes from the evaluation of the result of an action . People can consider the intent of an act to be either good ( or bad ) for themselves , another person , or society at large . People have evolved with a "sence" of what is right or wrong and mentally healthy people want to be good because this is the desirable self image as reflected by society .The concept of what is good can be either correct or distorted . Most people will consider the act of destroying the AIDS virus to be correct and the destruction of the World Trade Center to be distorted . We get a distorted sense of "good" from distorted information . Often this distorted information comes from our parents or religious teachers .

Answer 7

Evolution is a theory, there's not enough evidence to back this theory. It's been around from the 1800's. God has been around since the creation.

One day He will come and rule. Time has not come yet.

Answer 8

Define "good."
What does planetary "rule" have to do with evolution?

I would suggest that most people act in their own self-interest. It is to my benefit that I "behave" so I'm not in conflict with the rest of society. I don't believe in god, so I could care less what the bible says and I have no fear of "hell". I do believe in "prison" and do what I have to to avoid being sent there. I also believe "what goes around, comes around." I behave, and I expect others to as well.

Answer 9

1) The planet is indeed ruled by might alone

2) Humans are a social species for the most part, except for megolomaniacle rulers

Answer 10

God created man or Man created God
either way wats the problem

Answer 11

"Good" is an abstraction, without any absolute character. And the only reason that the planet isn't ruled by might alone is that no entity has acquired enough strength to do so -- although the US is pretty close to be able to do so if it wanted to. (Which it doesn't.)