"Actually, in the atheistic worldview, there is no reason why we should treat others the way we want to be treated. In fact, in the atheistic worldview, why should we care about anyone other than ourselves?
41 comments
"In fact, in the atheistic worldview, why should we care about anyone other than ourselves?"
Because unlike fundies, atheists are decent people.
In the atheistic worldview, we need to cooperate as humans is a rather weak species. Our strong-point is our intelligence, and that works best in cooperation with others.
But no, you don't have to fake interest in others to score cookie-points with an invisible being, when you're an atheist. I guess this is what you really mean. Right?
Who is more moral?
Me, the atheist, who acts moral out of decency and concern for my fellow humans
or
You, the theist, who acts moral out of fear of punishment?
All the donations I make and volunteer work I perform says otherwise, Josef.
And unlike you, I do it from the bottom of my heart, and not to because some book told me too.
Not all atheists are like Ayn Rand, Josef.
But I'd like to flip this line a little bit on its head differently from the way others have.
I know that my time on this earth is short and I have no belief in an afterlife. Even if I did, though, it's important to note that being I still couldn't work to make this world a better place after I've died.
But I want the fact that I exist now, to mean something. To have an influence far beyond the limited time I will spend on this earth. And so I will work to make things better. But the desire to exert this influence does mean that you can rightly accuse me of being a greedy, selfish bastard. And it's a title I would wear proudly.
From a randian viewpoint, no, you dont care about others while being atheist.
Just most atheists are humanists who believe taking care of your fellow human is vastly important principle.
I'm an agnostic middle of the road guy who believes that the most happiness for the most people is best.
Its all about philosophy and perspective. christians should be socialist-communist from a purist stand point, yet there exists libertarian christians!
Ok, let me go through all the reasons that come to mind:
Because Atheists aren't a homogenous group, and indeed contains no common mandate apart from the defining trait of not believing in the super natural; so stating atheist world view is a worthless statement without further identifying adjectives?
Personally I'm a nihilist, so I figure the best thing to do is to make the most of my life and try to leave the universe a bit better for the next generation. Is there any logical reason why I would need to do this, no. But as I have made it my personal mission to make the universe subjectively better to live in, being a helpful contributing member of society is the logical thing to do in that context.
That is my worldview, it does not speak for anyone else's reasons for being amazing, awesome atheists (that is unless they say it is).
Even Ayn Rand figured out that its "in your own rational selfinterest" to treat people well enough that they would trade with you without murdering you.
And the counter point is best expresed by Neitche who said that master-slave morality is not morality at all.
Your own comments indicate that you have no personal morality, you don't actually have any true desire to treat people well, only a desire to avoid punishment.
Ultimately, everything we do is selfish, whether we want to admit it or not. Giving aid to others helps the species survive this giving us a chance to pass on our genes. Individually humans are very weak and can only survive through safety in numbers, therefore we must treat other with some dignity and respect in order to prevent being thrown out of that safety and diminishing our chance of survival. Being good to others, ultimately is about our own survival.
in the atheistic worldview, why should we care about anyone other than ourselves
The Republicans are atheists? Who knew?
I see you're suffering from the, "I can't think of a reason, so there isn't one" complex. There's a 12-step program for that. Step 1 is admitting how dumb you are. Step two is admitting that not everyone is as dumb as you are. Step 3 is admitting you're too dumb for step 3-12.
in the atheists worldview there is no God inciting genocide, slavery, or a host of other brutalities.
Man is a social animal, lives in groups, and has had to develop rules of conduct that are acceptable to the widest group.
If you have had sex with your girlfriend you will need to stone her to death and dump the body on her fathers doorstep after your wedding night. that may be hard for you but its what God wants, so there it is.
Actually, in the Christian worldview, you are required to tell other people not only what they should believe, but what they do believe, and why it is wrong. True Christians need not be concerned that they might not understand what it is they're arguing against.
Actually, in the Atheistic worldview, there is a reason why we should treat others the way we want to be treated.
Because we can .
[img]http://s23.postimg.org/upam6hy07/god_v_satan.jpg[/img]
God: 2,039,344
Satan (and only on God's authorisation): 10
Anon-e-moose: 0
Well, I must be fucking up somewhere re. my morality, if I've yet to kill just one person to date, nor do I want to, ever.
Because of course, compared to we [i]a[/i]moral heathen Atheists, you Christians possess [i]superior[/i] morals, amirite?! [/hyper-sarcasm]
Replace "atheist" with "hedonist", and you've got a pretty damned good point there.
There is a reason we want to treat others the way we want to be treated to earn the trust of others, and so we can trust in others the selfsame way.
If we were to have an atheistic world view, it would look like this:
Societies have developed all over the world without even a smell of Christianity (whos existance is very young in known history), all these societies are based on similar rules of conduct meaning this is what evolves from social dynamics. Logical, basic rules to keep the peace and prosperity rolling.
To look at any past history and come to the conclusion the caring part of societies is a product of religion is a very deluded worldview. They take credit for it, yes, probably because of that you've come to believe this but history shows they lie, about everything.
(Really?)
Seconded.
(Punch)
He could run an IMAX theater all by himself, he's projecting so hard.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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