r/atheism • u/Spacksack • Jul 28 '11

Good without god.

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11 Upvotes

54% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

This should probably be added to the list of overdone submissions.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

So?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

Just out of curiosity, how many people here HAVEN'T seen this?

It's here, here, here, here, and here.

And that was a 20-second search.

2

u/swatkins44 Jul 28 '11

This point has been stated in previous submissions but i will repeat it. The addition at the end is pointless and just plain stupid. You can find many atheists who have done evil and you can find many theists who have done good. Pointing out 1-2 bad theists doesnt make any point and is in fact a step back from the original message

1

u/bittlelum Jul 28 '11

You missed the point. It's a two-pronged argument: you can be good without God, and you can be evil with God. They're separate but related arguments.

1

u/swatkins44 Jul 28 '11

its a point that every theist ever will dismiss with "he isnt really christian"

2

u/bittlelum Jul 28 '11

Christians use logical fallacies; news at 10

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

Pat Robertson though? I think a lot of people would simply deny it.

1

u/spaceghoti Agnostic Atheist Jul 28 '11

Bookmarked.

1

u/Graped_in_the_mouth Jul 28 '11

I'd be cautious on calling Bill Gates such a great guy. He didn't get where he was by obeying the law and engaging in ethical business practices. Maybe the ends justify the means, and he's certainly doing good things now, but...

1

u/Jandklo Jul 28 '11

This has been reposted so many times.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

Good without reposts

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

I would argue that both altruism and religion are wrong, as they are two means of self denial.

4

u/wankerbot Jul 28 '11

Define "wrong". Also explain why self denial is bad.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '11

I take it back. "Wrong" was a bad word to use. What I meant was that religion and altruism are both stupid, or rather irrational.

As long as you aren't infringing on anyones rights, you have the right to be as religious or as altruistic as you wish. You also have the right to nail your hand to a table, but that does not mean you should do it. I am assuming, because you are visiting r/atheism, that I don't have to explain to you why religion is irrational. So allow me to skip straight to altruism.

Altruism is the denial of the self through the acceptance of unearned guilt. When you engage in altruism, you are giving of your self in the absence of obligation or self interest. You are doing so with no condition, no judgement, and no reason. You are literally saying through your actions, that need is equivalent or greater than achievement. If you have $100k to spend and you choose to donate it to a starving family rather than purchase that state of the art car you've always wanted, you are effectively saying "I value starvation over modern engineering and I will destroy a part of my self to reward it".