Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Justin on March 1, 2012 at 10:20pm

I didn't go through and read everybody's responses, but I believe good comes from an evolutionary imperative. Survival was easier for earlier humanity if they were good and acted moral toward one another. If they were more so evil toward each other, there is no way humanity would have ever evolved to what we are today. Yes there is evil in the world, but the majority of humanity is good, and this goodness is built intrinsically into us through evolution. Being good increases our chances of prolonged survival and the passing of our 'good' genetic material to the next generation. Well thats I tend to think anyway.

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Permalink Reply by Unseen on March 1, 2012 at 10:53pm

a) You're begging the question of what The Good is as well as Evil. You're defining terms and using them in the definition at the same time.

b) In nature, "good guys finish last." The strongest survive. What you're describing is counter-evolutionary.

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Permalink Reply by Justin on March 1, 2012 at 11:30pm

Well I guess I mean good in terms of moral attitude toward one another. Moral evolution if you will. I just don't think early humanity would have thrived if we never developed moral responsibility toward one another. I don't think 'good guys finish last' I think the strongest are the good, maybe because it allows us to band together and help each other survive. I'm mainly referring to the days of early human beings. I probably didn't properly answer the two points you made to my post, but hey I'm just attempting to explain some of my crazy thoughts!

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Permalink Reply by C Elaine Clark on March 5, 2012 at 5:55pm

I don't agree with the good guys finish last, I taught my kids the difference bete=ween being a good person and bad person.  Not evil .... evil is like a  B slasher movie  , like the bible lots of horror stories in that book. you can not believe in god and still be a good decent person.  you can still be kind, have manners,  help out and be happy. If you are so busy tring to win and be the bad guy you will not be very satisfied with life.  I don't believe in god but i do believe in karma...... life forces and energies...... I try to avoid bad people as not to disturb my peace.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick on March 2, 2012 at 12:04pm

I suggest you start with "There is no god."

so therefore all good and all evil is a result either from the acts of man (or lack of), or natural causes, or coincidence (luck). The core foundation of morality is universal within our species. Religion utilizes that inner 'moral" instinct to trick people. Religion does a lot of tricky mind play of that sort...especially in their ability to convince people regarding what is "moral" and what is immoral...as with their ability to channel agression into an organized function.

If you are really interested in that viewpoint, I suggest The Moral Landscape, by Sam Harris. 

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Permalink Reply by C Elaine Clark on March 5, 2012 at 5:42pm

nothing about good being commanded by god

ood

    [good]  Show IPA adjective, bet·ter, best,noun, interjection, adverb

adjective

1.

morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man.

2.

satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree: a good teacher;good health.

3.

of high quality; excellent.

4.

right; proper; fit: It is good that you are here. His credentialsare good.

5.

well-behaved: a good child.

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Permalink Reply by C Elaine Clark on March 5, 2012 at 5:47pm

The bible also says things like stone your neighbors  if they work on the Sabbath...... 

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Permalink Reply by Scott Howard on March 8, 2012 at 3:59pm

Therefore good is arbitrary. It just happens to be whatever god feels like. So Joshua slaughtering 1000s of innocent people was "good" because god said so. Surely your theist can see the fallacy of that line of reasoning. BTW, don't bug my on Friday night. I don't want to be stoned for violating the sabbath. 

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Permalink Reply by Unseen on March 8, 2012 at 5:40pm

Umm... Well, if the theist sees the fallacy of that line of reasoning, it just provides an opportunity to demonstrate that his faith is so strong it can stand in the face of absurdity. This is why most attempts at arguing with Christians simply falls into their trap and fails to convert them to atheism or even agnosticism. If any Christian converts as the result of a strong line of reasoning, they weren't very faithful in the first place.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Howard on March 10, 2012 at 7:22am

Your absolutely right. I told a few christian friends when I deconverted an they really weren't the slightest bit interested in the evidence behind my reasoning and conclusions. They just couldn't understand why I couldn't just believe. When I tried to explain that I really wanted to, but belief has to be anchored in truth and fact somewhere, their eyes would just glaze over.

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