Atheist and Moral
One question that I have heard a lot is, "How can you be moral without God?" There is also the more offensive version of this, "You just want to sin. That's why you deny God." That second one is rather offensive remark but I try to ignore that fact. Since really they have no idea what they are saying. I assume they really mean the first statement otherwise I would just be pissed off.
The question being how can I be moral and an atheist at the same time. Well, that's really simple. I live my life with a few basic rules. These rules are as follows.
I think we can all agree you would rather live than die. This line shouldn't even have a debate. When you really think about it, the people that would disagree with this statement are most likely already dead.
The next line pleasure is better than pain. I would think everyone would agree with this one as well. However, there are some people that enjoy pain. Masochists can enjoy their pain as long as they realize most people do not feel the same way.
Freedom is better than anything. This one may take a little bit of explanation. When you are an adult you should have the freedom to do as you wish up to the point that it affects other people. One thing that I heard Matt Dillahunty say once, "My right to swing my fist ends at your face." This is basically what I have always believed.
The line from Star Trek "The good of the many outweigh the good of the one." can also be stated as "The good of the many outweigh the good of the few." This is a simple statement and I would think rather self explanatory. The scene from the movie has Spock walking into what would be certain death to save everyone else on the ship. If you haven't seen the movie then I would recommend watching all the Star Trek movies or at least the even numbers ones.
Honesty is always the best option. I didn't always hold to this one and every time I haven't it caused loss in my life of great emotional levels. Now, if you don't want an honest answer don't ask me the question.
Logic outweighs emotions. This can be difficult at times. However, I have found the knee jerk reactions and decisions based solely on emotions tend to be very hurtful to me and others around me. Therefore, I choose to use logic as my main deciding factor. However, I still include emotion I just don't weigh it as heavily as logic.
Violence is only for self defense. This one is rather self explanatory as well. Violence in general goes against the first two lines to begin with. However, if your life is being threatened or your physical well being. Then by all means beat the shit out of them until they are no longer a threat.
Now, what happens when one of these conflicts with another. Whenever there is a conflict I use the logic to figure out what would promote the most good and cause the least harm.
Anyone that knows me well enough tends to think I'm a decent guy. Then again the only ones that have gotten to know me that well are the ones that can accept the brutal honesty. Otherwise I'm just a average guy called rug, and that's what I think.
The question being how can I be moral and an atheist at the same time. Well, that's really simple. I live my life with a few basic rules. These rules are as follows.
- Life is preferable to death.
- Pleasure is preferable to pain.
- Freedom is preferable to anything.
- The good of the many outweigh the good of the one. (Thank you Spock!)
- Honesty is always the best option.
- Logic outweighs emotion.
- Violence is only for self defence.
I think we can all agree you would rather live than die. This line shouldn't even have a debate. When you really think about it, the people that would disagree with this statement are most likely already dead.
The next line pleasure is better than pain. I would think everyone would agree with this one as well. However, there are some people that enjoy pain. Masochists can enjoy their pain as long as they realize most people do not feel the same way.
Freedom is better than anything. This one may take a little bit of explanation. When you are an adult you should have the freedom to do as you wish up to the point that it affects other people. One thing that I heard Matt Dillahunty say once, "My right to swing my fist ends at your face." This is basically what I have always believed.
The line from Star Trek "The good of the many outweigh the good of the one." can also be stated as "The good of the many outweigh the good of the few." This is a simple statement and I would think rather self explanatory. The scene from the movie has Spock walking into what would be certain death to save everyone else on the ship. If you haven't seen the movie then I would recommend watching all the Star Trek movies or at least the even numbers ones.
Honesty is always the best option. I didn't always hold to this one and every time I haven't it caused loss in my life of great emotional levels. Now, if you don't want an honest answer don't ask me the question.
Logic outweighs emotions. This can be difficult at times. However, I have found the knee jerk reactions and decisions based solely on emotions tend to be very hurtful to me and others around me. Therefore, I choose to use logic as my main deciding factor. However, I still include emotion I just don't weigh it as heavily as logic.
Violence is only for self defense. This one is rather self explanatory as well. Violence in general goes against the first two lines to begin with. However, if your life is being threatened or your physical well being. Then by all means beat the shit out of them until they are no longer a threat.
Now, what happens when one of these conflicts with another. Whenever there is a conflict I use the logic to figure out what would promote the most good and cause the least harm.
Anyone that knows me well enough tends to think I'm a decent guy. Then again the only ones that have gotten to know me that well are the ones that can accept the brutal honesty. Otherwise I'm just a average guy called rug, and that's what I think.
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