(May 12, 2011 at 2:58 pm)diffidus Wrote: If you believe in God, then how to behave is simple: This life is transient and if you do good things you will spend the rest of eternity in Heaven, whereas, if you behave badly you go to Hell for eternity. If you truly believe in God, then you cannot question the morality of this because God, being perfect, could not be in error.Again with the "No Good Without God" argument?
Quote:If you do not believe in God, then this life is still a fleeting transient moment compared to the age of the universe, but how to behave is not so clear. Since this is the one and only existence, then the only rational course is to pursue those things that serve your own ends and maximise the pleasure and happiness of your short vacation from the dark abyss of eternity.It pleases me no end to not be in prison. So I don't do things that would get me there. I also have enough native morality that I don't do mean things to people just because it would be "fun". There are many Xtians I know around here who would do so if they thought they could get away with it, and a few who actually do those things.
Quote:With regard to the latter, this means that the only grounds for altruism is if you happen to be a person who enjoys putting others before yourself. If you happen to be selfish thats OK too. The only thing you need to avoid is breaking the Law, since this may take away your freedom which would diminish your existence. Apart from that, it is a free for all - a morality of ends?We all do what pleases us the most or hurts the least. How "free will" works into that has never been clear. It's probably the biggest pointless topic I see on these boards.
