Nevermind Jesus...what would YOU do (see below)...?

Question

Suppose it was conclusively proved that the atheists are right and there is no God. (Yeah, yeah, I know. It's a THOUGHT EXPERIMENT. Work with me, for the sake of argument.) Would you, PERSONALLY, engage in the orgy of murder, rape, and theft you predict is the inevitable outcome of having no judge and no divine basis for morality?

If your answer is "no", and YOU are capable of resisting such base impulses for the greater good, why do you think so little of your fellow man that you assume he COULDN'T also behave himself without some Cosmic Nanny wagging his finger at them? Are you THAT superior to everyone else? Where would you be getting your morality from, and why wouldn't your brother and sister human beings not be able to do the same?

Answer 1

OK, let's play this game... No god to give meaning to my morals; how would I live life?

I'm free to rape, murder, steal all sorts of stuff... wait that would harm others and potentially myself. Maybe I should be the honest, hard-working father that I am, try to provide for my family and raise my children to be good human beings. But this is already what I do in my everyday life as an atheist.

Edit: Hedonism is not the only logical Ethics for an atheist, one could make a case for "nature based" morality but I doubt that there is a single moral system that is the logical choice.

Answer 2

that's why they brought the whole god picture in a very easy way to scare people(and it still does for most) is bring them an unknown like when you die you go to hell, well you can't so prove it so most people back then fear it so kept everyone in line or they would be running around like loons. but as time past people evolved mentally(well some *cough*). we started acquiring a different way of looking at things. maybe once religion was once a good thing to people from going crazy and killing but now they all have become a cancer that keeps us fighting amongst ourselves. its like reading a cave man drawing and believing it. there bigger things to worry about like saving the planet so we can save are selves. the people that made these religions up would have thought the technology we have today was a miracle or witchcraft. but anyway if this is something people chose to believe let em i say as long one its hurting anyone else and they are not trying to force their beliefs anyone including small children. which i don't agree with at all let em choose when they old enough to understand like 16.
and the guy who made comment about jeffery dahmer that was just example of the problem, use yer brain for once think outside the box for once outside yer narrow view of the world.

Answer 3

Dear Rev, it's not all about the morality. It's about eternity. There are tons of wonderful people wandering around here whom don't partake in the "orgies" you posed in your question. My brother and his wife are a couple of them. I'm sure you are as well. I would not partake myself simply because it's not in my personality to do so. I'm not that type of a person. Sure I partied plenty in my younger days, but grew out of that well before I became a Christian.

I don't need a "cosmic nanny" wagging his finger at me to know the difference between right and wrong. Neither do you or most people. Not one Christian I know claims to be more superior to anyone else. It's the Ags that think they need to continue to prove how much better they are. And in some cases, they are.

But again, it's not a question of morality, it's a question of eternity - and a preference to live each day in answer to this "judge" that will some day take my soul away and do with it what He wishes. I pray that He takes it and is kind with me.

Let's put it this way - - if you were my neighbor and needed a hand - I'd help you. And if I was your neighbor and needed a hand, I'm sure you'd help me. It's just my own surety that I'm going to end up hanging out in Heaven in the end and you won't. But I would love you anyway. katiefish <><

Answer 4

People who do not believe in God will probably just as moral as believers, as long as there is civil authority. Being caught (now or in the here after) is always a deterrent. In chaos, anarchy or riot there may be a small fractional difference in the behavior of the 2 groups.

More than being criminal, is there a difference in doing good? Morality is only partially about bad behavior. Where there is no God, will there be as much generosity, charity, compassion? Will there be patriotic sacrifice?

Answer 5

WWUD - Think for yourself! (Much better slogan in my opinion)

I'm going to admit something that may help shed some light on this. You probably already get why they don't really understand your question, but maybe some don't.

Even though I never really fell for the Bible stories that I was raised with, the private school I went to certainly did a good job of instilling guilt and fears into me without me really realizing it. Even as a young adult (roughly 20), I had greatly pulled away from Christianity but I still had difficulty "saying it"... still hadn't figured out the guilt part yet. I started dated a great guy, who is still my friend to this day, and during one of our long talks he said something along the lines of "I'm an atheist". I didn't say a word at first, but he must have seen the reaction on my face. I wasn't afraid of him or anything, but my first reaction was... there's no way you're an atheist! After many more conversations and enlightenment with this great man... I figured out that my reaction was due to my Christian raised mind automatically relating atheism to the devil and evil connotations. Certainly this intelligent, caring person couldn't be "one of them"... I honestly had a knot in the pit of my stomach. The church still had a grip on me and I didn't even believe in it anymore. It's very powerful in that respect!

I have come a long way since and no longer am I bound even by the guilt or fear that lingered from my faith based upbringing; however I do understand how it can be hard to even break through the simplest of beliefs. I never felt free to make my own choices during that part of my life.... there was always this god looking over my shoulder and peeking into my thoughts and judging my every action! You're taught that you are weak and inferior to this god and so is your fellow man. When you're essentially "brain washed" with this stuff from childhood, it's easy for me to understand how consuming it can be....but difficult for others to understand this. The fear alone can easily keep someone from "thinking for themselves". As well as this idea that we are too weak and inferior to make good choices without guidance (from god). Hence, why they can perceive non-believers as bad evil-doers, unable to control themselves without god's great influence. (not my words)

I think that anyone who is going to change their mind about religion has to have a part of them that questions it or even doesn't like it, before that can happen. If they don't, you simply can't beat it into them with what we see as rationality... because their beliefs do seem rational and absolute - to them!

Answer 6

Rev:

Orgies of murder, rape and whatnot are just not my style. It's not about cosmic adult supervision. It's more about my overall lifelong belief in karma (don't start none, etc.) combined with my aversion to anything gooey, messy, noisy, or overly dramatic.

Otherwise, I would probably do whatever Buffy would do......

Answer 7

The so-called can't-lose side of Pascal's wager IS a loser. It filters out personal responsibility in favor of the invisible rule-giver. And it assigns credit to God instead of allowing the individual to reinforce the positive in his own nature.

Answer 8

nopes , because there was a lots of goods philosophers advices abouts everything there is. So , a wise man with a good knowledge of the truth , will always comes to a good deeds or behaves toward others.

Answer 9

(I should know better than to read the other answers before writing.... oh well)

It is odd that some Christians believe that Athiests are immoral. As a Christian myself, and as far as I know, I've never made that negative association.

I wish there was a way to get all Christians to understand this.

Answer 10

Since the ONLY logical action for a true atheist is total hedonism, that could only mean one thing. Each individual would do that which brings him/her the most pleasure without waiting. If that included violent actions, then yes, there'd be those. Human nature doesn't change. Just the circumstances with which we try to direct and control its baser aspects. The only way to do that without God is to institute the death penalty for every violent infraction. Pretty soon we'd be down to the ones whose pleasure can be gained via non-violent means .... and the executioners.