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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:46 pm
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My coworkers and I were discussing religion at work. I don't know how we keep ending up on this topic.
I have one coworker who is catholic (but not obsessed about it), another who doesn't like organized religion, but has a relationship with god, one who's agnostic (At least that's what I told her she was after she described her beliefs to me. She didn't know a term was out there to describe her religious views.), and me, the atheist.
The agnostic asked me how I go on with my day-to-day life believing there isn't something after this life. I responded by saying that death is finite, just as heaven and hell are finite. One ends with you in a "happy place", the other in a "terrible place", the last not giving a damn, because you're dead. None of them leave any prospects of what's to come in them. They are all the end of your life.
The catholic asked me why I don't steal and harm other people if I don't believe in the afterlife. Apparently, she thinks the fear of going to hell is the only thing that would cause a person to be "good." I don't really know how to answer this question. I know my morals have been put in place for me by how I was raised. My parents didn't teach me about god and religion. My mother views life as hell, and the afterlife as heaven. She says that this is the tough part. If you get through this, then you'll be rewarded. She never said that how you get through this life matters. Other than my parents telling me what's "right" from "wrong" and what's "good" from "bad" I never really had any reason to be good and to try to treat others the way I would like to be treated.
How do you answer this question when asked it? What is it that keeps us Atheists from being royal shitheads?
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:13 pm
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Well, I start be mentioning that even the most devout theists still commit crimes against their own religion (i.e. Catholic Priest child molesters), so the idea of religion keeping a moral lid on the population is arguable. Anyway, I think everyone's answer to why follow morals is personal. Mine is that I just follow logic and reason. Logic dictates that the golden rule of "Do to others as you would have them do to you" is a rational and reasonable philosophy. So I try not to treat others badly because I wouldn't want them to treat me badly, and that just happens to include rudeness, stealing, rape, murder, and all the areas in between. Mind you, some Atheists are as conservative as die-hard Christians, and some are so liberal they're practiaclly anarchists. In my opion the biggest difficulty in Atheist interaction is this wide spectrum that our morals cover. Hense, in this guild and on other Atheist sites, you'll see a lot debating and sometimes bickering over morals. After all, what are morals than our own opinion on how people should view life and treat each others. "Opinions are like assholes: everyone's got one, and they're all offensive." xd
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:18 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:32 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:41 pm
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![User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.](https://graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) I'm actually a little afraid of death because I just don't know what'll come after it - that and the fact that hell no I ain't gonna go yet, I still have work t'do.
But, well, I'm nice because, damn, why not? Sure, if you're a b***h now you'll 'go to hell', but you'll also be reguarded as a b***h for the rest of your life, which can still be pretty long.
I do the right thing out of respect for myself and the people I surround myself with, not out of fear of what's going to happen afterwards. Sure, being bad is easy, but being good is a challenge and it's all about control.
I know that doesn't make a lot of sense and doesn't give my 'yes or no, because...' answer, but, well...
If someone asked me that question, I'd respond, 'Because it's I think it's the right thing to do.'
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:01 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:13 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:18 pm
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:08 am
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:34 am
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:40 am
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:33 pm
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Crystal E-B My coworkers and I were discussing religion at work. I don't know how we keep ending up on this topic. I have one coworker who is catholic (but not obsessed about it), another who doesn't like organized religion, but has a relationship with god, one who's agnostic (At least that's what I told her she was after she described her beliefs to me. She didn't know a term was out there to describe her religious views.), and me, the atheist. The agnostic asked me how I go on with my day-to-day life believing there isn't something after this life. I responded by saying that death is finite, just as heaven and hell are finite. One ends with you in a "happy place", the other in a "terrible place", the last not giving a damn, because you're dead. None of them leave any prospects of what's to come in them. They are all the end of your life. The catholic asked me why I don't steal and harm other people if I don't believe in the afterlife. Apparently, she thinks the fear of going to hell is the only thing that would cause a person to be "good." I don't really know how to answer this question. I know my morals have been put in place for me by how I was raised. My parents didn't teach me about god and religion. My mother views life as hell, and the afterlife as heaven. She says that this is the tough part. If you get through this, then you'll be rewarded. She never said that how you get through this life matters. Other than my parents telling me what's "right" from "wrong" and what's "good" from "bad" I never really had any reason to be good and to try to treat others the way I would like to be treated. How do you answer this question when asked it? What is it that keeps us Atheists from being royal shitheads?
"The catholic asked me why I don't steal and harm other people if I don't believe in the afterlife." Okay, here's the thing..
Ask the Catholic if she/he would automatically start harming people or stealing if she learned there really is no heaven/hell. If he/she says no, ask why. smile
We're all taught good ethical values from a young age. If we didn't have laws put in place, our species would be suffering. The gorilla expects others in their family to act morally as well. And they don't need a religion for that.
If we all started to murder and harm people, our species would be doomed. It's not helpful too the species or society to harm another. Same goes for stealing. We do whats right too help the species and society. Or else we are doomed, if we do not. Again, we don't need religion for that, or a belief in heaven/hell.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:22 pm
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:13 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:54 am
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