(October 19, 2012 at 6:55 pm)Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:(October 18, 2012 at 12:02 am)Darkstar Wrote: Human value is far from nonexistant. Yes, there is no objective meaning.
Where would value come from? To think that you're life is more valuable than an ant would just to be guilty of speciesism. If there is no objective being to give your life value, then it has no objective value. Any value that you would perceive your life to have would be just an self-deception.
Depends on how you define value. Value is not objective. A pencil has no value when used as a flying machine, nor does an airplane as a writing utensil. We are speciests because ants do not have sentiency.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:Moreover, the OP quoted Dawkins saying that there exists no good, no evil.
AND ALL OF YOU AGREE WITH THIS?!?!?!?!?!
(the following is from wikipedia on the topic of Nazi Experiments)
Bone, muscle, and nerve transplantation experiments
From about September 1942 to about December 1943 experiments were conducted at the Ravensbrück concentration camp, for the benefit of the German Armed Forces, to study bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration, and bone transplantation from one person to another. Sections of bones, muscles, and nerves were removed from the subjects without use of anesthesia. As a result of these operations, many victims suffered intense agony, mutilation, and permanent disability.
Head injury experiments
In mid-1942 in Baranowicze, occupied Poland, experiments were conducted in a small building behind the private home occupied by Nazi SD Security Service officer, in which "a young boy of eleven or twelve [was] strapped to a chair so he could not move. Above him was a mechanized hammer that every few seconds came down upon his head." The boy was driven insane from the torture.
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I also read where pregnant women were used for vivisections.
First of all, who said we agreed? Secondly, it depends how you define good and evil. The fact that Hitler was a Christian notwithstanding, it is obviously unethical to do those things because they cause great suffering. It is generally best to pick the course of action that results in the least amount of overall suffering.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:On atheism, you have no grounds to say that this is wrong. Life simply is....you can do what you wish with it. There's nothing wrong with using other humans for science experiments against their will and at the cost of their lives.
Yes there is. Morals are inbuilt, as they serve an evolutionary advantage. If people killed each other left and right, we would be extinct by now. (And yes, I know of wars, that isn't what I mean)
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If there is no God, life came from nothing and ends in nothing. Not only do our individual lives end in death, the universe itself will end in a heat death and will go back to being what it was in the beginning...nothing.
First part, yes. Heat death? I don't think so, I thought it was going to be a freeze.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:Nothing before the Big Bang, nothing afterwards....we're just this drivel in between nothings. Meaningless, purposeless, valueless.
We attribute value to ourselves and the world.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If there is no God what value could your life possible have? Perhaps you could benefit the human race? To what end? All ends in nothingness, it would be a fruitless, pointless endeavor anyway. All acts of humanity are ultimately of no consequence.
Maybe, maybe not. I don't know if uber-advanced humans could save civilization from impending solar apocolypse, but they might be able to. If there is a god, our only value is as slaves.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:A life lived for pure selfish gain would be equal to a life lived selflessly giving to the human race. Both would end in death.
But the legacy that comes after would matter, possibly forever.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:Sacrifice is foolish and selfishness is the only logical perspective to approach life with.
Absolute sacrifice, yes. But being selfish will not make you any friends, and , as I have already explained, we have inborn morals that could cause guilt for this. The world isn't that simple.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If there is no God, all things are permissible....our world essentially is Auschwitz.
Well, if that isn't a non-sequiter.
There is no god, therefore earth is a mega-auchwitz.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If God exists, then you have value because he ascribes value to you.Not much, considering the flood and all of the others he massacred.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If God exists then you would have objective value because the objective being gave it to you.
You subjectively label god's judgement as objective. It is not.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:Your argument seems to be addressing extrinsic value, like sand...if there's a ton it's not really valuable.
However, if God exists we have intrinsic value because we are made in His image and those who Jesus died for would have extrinsic value as well because their life would have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, who is Himself God.
What, one molecule of blood apiece? What Jesus did wasn't that spectacular. Considering all of the atrocities you mentioned earlier I though you would know that Jesus didn't sacrifice much compared to them.
(October 18, 2012 at 12:02 am)Darkstar Wrote: If heaven were real, and this life was just a passageway to it, who would care what happened?God would...and those that wanted to spend eternity with Him would.
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Why? Everything is inconsiquential, so long as you accept Jesus.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:(October 18, 2012 at 12:02 am)Darkstar Wrote: So long as you die (preferably very young, if you are impatient) having accepted Jesus, you are good to go!Preach it!
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:(October 18, 2012 at 12:02 am)Darkstar Wrote: It's sickening that some people actually think like that when there really is only one shot...(I added emphasis)
One shot for what? If atheism is true whatever you do with this life is purposeless. One shot for success? To make a difference?
Both. Live for yourself and for others. If you refuse to give your life value, it is your own mistake.
Reasonable_Jeff Wrote:If atheism is true, there is no difference to be made and success is no more meaningful than a life spent sitting on the couch. To think otherwise would be to simply deceive yourself with a noble lie.
Meaningful in what way? You could change the world, or you could do it because you want to. Just because there is no creator doesn't mean it is illegal or illogical to refuse to attribute meaning to life.
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.