thought for the day.

[epifanatic]

Originally Posted by barbara

I don't believe there is anything after death just as there was nothing before birth.
I'm trying to make the best of things while I'm here!

Post of the day!!

[piece-itpete]

I'm just curious - is, say, punching babies ever good?



Pete

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I'm just curious - is, say, punching babies ever good?



Pete

In another time and place, infant sacrifice was considered a good thing.

Regards,

D-Ray

[piece-itpete]

I understand that mores change over time. Before we'd leave unwanted babies outside to die, now we cut'em up and vacuum'em out before they're born.

But is say rape ever good?

Pete

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by barbara

I don't believe there is anything after death just as there was nothing before birth.
I'm trying to make the best of things while I'm here!

precisely.

to answer the OP, I dismiss delusional constructs of the mind such as this one out of hand, so no.

[Combwork]

Originally Posted by bhunter

I'll join the Chas-Finn group.

IMHO, good and evil have no empirical basis and are only relative to human beliefs. Of course, what we believe to be good or evil changes over time.

It's an odd one. If a cat takes its time killing a mouse before losing interest and dispatching it, it's behaving normally. If a human were to behave this way in today's society it would be thought of as abnormal, psychotic, yet history is littered with examples of different human cultures where in some instances, part of the death penalty was to make it last as long as possible.

We're the focus of our own beliefs and as this focal point moves, our sense of right and wrong moves with it. Are extreme Christian believers doing a kindness when they try to beat the devil out of a child, or are they acting like throwbacks to a time when being stoned to death was thought a suitable punishment for sin?

There was a great drama on BBC Television about a group of survivors in a world hit by a lethal virus. The survivors thought of themselves as civilised but when a child was abused and the abuser caught they had to choose; hold to their beliefs and let him live but under restraint? Banish him? Or put him to death. The first two had the danger of risk; one way or another he might have escaped and become a danger so they chose the third way.

In the space of a few years not a few generations, what we think of as basic principles, pillars of our beliefs, can be completely discarded.

[neophyte]

while I hope for (and expect) the fallacy of religion to be eventually filed away in its proper place, next to the "earth is flat" notion, I don't see the notions of good will, justice, altruism, etc. fading as a result. Value judgements such as right and wrong are not in the exclusive purview of theists, no matter how stubbornly they have laid claim to, and perverted them. We are a thinking, self aware species, capable of (and generally predisposed to) positive, constructive modes of thought and action without the preposterous crutch of a belief system founded on an ancient fantasy.

Until such time that we, as a species, shirk off the ignorance, fear and guilt inherent in said brainwashing, we won't know how well we would or wouldn't do with it all.

[bobabode]

No to the first Q, cautiously optimistic to the second.

Karma always made more sense to me than a pissed off old guy on a golden throne with Santa Clause on the right and the Tooth Fairy on the left. That's just my take. Pick the symbolism that you prefer but one lesson seem universal and that's the golden rule. Even an atheist can't find fault there.

If nothing else survives of me I like to think I left the place a little neater than I found it. Who knows? Lack of proof doesn't imply shit in my book other than arrogance.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by neophyte

while I hope for (and expect) the fallacy of religion to be eventually filed away in its proper place, next to the "earth is flat" notion, I don't see the notions of good will, justice, altruism, etc. fading as a result. Value judgements such as right and wrong are not in the exclusive purview of theists, no matter how stubbornly they have laid claim to, and perverted them. We are a thinking, self aware species, capable of (and generally predisposed to) positive, constructive modes of thought and action without the preposterous crutch of a belief system founded on an ancient fantasy.

Until such time that we, as a species, shirk off the ignorance, fear and guilt inherent in said brainwashing, we won't know how well we would or wouldn't do with it all.

It seems like you approach your atheism with a religious fervor. I am quite aware that religious folk can be intolerant, and that horrible acts have been done in the name of religion. But there have also been a great many people of faith who have been driven by their faith to perform great services for society. I believe that tolerance for all views - religious and anti-religious is a constructive way of maintaining a society. The wall of separation between church and state is essential to maintain such tolerance. The separation requires neutrality toward any religious belief or lack thereof, but it does not stand for governmental hostility toward religion, nor should it promote such hostility.

Regards,

D-Ray

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by bhunter

I'll join the Chas-Finn group.

And I thought you were an independent thinker.

Regards,

D-Ray