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without having to fear some god's judgement? I raise the question because one of the consistent meme's raised by Christians (and I suppose Muslims as well), vis a vis atheist, is that without the fear of some god, mankind is free to do any damned thing that they like.
The idea that one can only derive ethics from a single source or more importantly obey a set of ethics out of fear of some supernatural is both childish and immature, something comparable to the behavior of a three year old whose only reason for not taking a cookie out of the jar is that mommy or daddy will get mad instead of a mature cognition that recognizes that the taking that cookie has other real world consequences like unneeded weight gain, tooth decay, or just spoiling one's desire for a health dinner.
In my mind it is far more mature to have a reasoned set of ethics formed by a rational understanding of the advantages and concomitant negative consequences of one's personal and societal set of ethical behaviors. To me, the process of rational introspective inquiry of what is ethical and what is not develops a firmer foundation upon which to pursue a moral life. It seems to me to be far easier to disregard externally fostered ethics than ones derived through years of rational thought.
Lot's of folks WANT to be good people, but, they always getting sidetracked, and forget to help the poor suckers out there that need a little help.
I don't think being good for fear of God is going to get you anywhere, either. but the ideas most religions talk about is "do good to those around you. Treat folks with respect, help the needy, and love your fellow man."
If you do that, then you please whatever God there is, and you get to feel good about yourself.
If you do that, then you please whatever God there is, and you get to feel good about yourself.
But I don't lead an ethical life to please any god, just myself in the hopes that such a life does benefit myself (the ability to look myself in the mirror) and mankind as a whole.
Isn't it enough to just want to be a good person...
Well, it is for me. In my family we have the fourth generation of atheists either at young adult age or close to it. Getting ready for the fifth to come into the world in March. I am in my 40s and am third generation, my sons are teenagers. You would be hard put to look at any of my large family and label it as atheist by the way we lead our lives.
We were taught, and are teaching our children, to be the type of person you want to be because it's beneficial to not only yourself but to the world at large. We know right from wrong, respect others, etc., why wouldn't we? Why would we want to do anything that is detrimental to ourselves, our neighbors, or the world as a whole? Why would we want to break down ourselves, our families, our society? That makes no sense.
Behavior has consequences, we just know that the consequences are here and now and the effects on others is the detriment. You have a choice of what type of person you want to be and we teach that it is better to be a person to be proud of, is that really that novel?
Being a good person doesn't come from fear of punishment, it comes from within.
Last edited by Crackalackish; 01-12-2012 at 07:24 PM..
The preacher at our church, last week said that there are many people out there who claim to be Christian, but fail to practice Christian principles, and many people who practice "Christian" principles, who never claim to be Christian.
I have noticed this many times, but that was the first time I ever heard a preacher say it.
Christian principles are not really unique to Christians.
They are ways to behave that humans have thought were right since before there were ever religions to follow.
They really "Human Principles".
I don't fear God. I believe that God is that within us that desires to do good for others.
Isn't it enough to just want to be a good person...
Of course not. If it was, tens of thousands of churches would go out of business! What would we do with all those empty churches? The mountains of surplus hard benches that no one outside of a church would ever consider sitting on for more than 5 minutes? All the children that wouldn't be molested and damaged for life who keep the Psychiatric community in the green or all the brainwashed crazies that would be paying their bills instead of mailing checks to televangelists?
Being a good person is always good enough imo, that's the best we can hope and strive for. It's the religious who claim it's not enough with their scare tactics and fear mongering. It's like Crackalakish said, "being a good person doesn't come from fear of punishment, it comes from within".
I know several people that "Want to be a good person" but fail miserably, if they even try.
They are rude, and vicious, uncaring and even violent, but they always say that the want to be good.
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Isn't it enough to just want to be a good person...
