Problem of good and evil for an atheist

[Ace Otana]

I hope you are not suggesting that what naturally happens just plain should happen and should be allowed to happen unaltered? That would be the naturalistic fallacy, surely?

What I'm saying is what happens should remain so. From living in this time line to going back and altering it (pretty much deciding who exists and who does not) is what I would call very wrong. History whether it's good or bad must remain. It's there for us to look back on and learn from. To change it would lead to a timeline that would be very unrecognisable to us. No one has the right to decide who gets to live or not. Which is why the past must remain untouched.

Do you consider the equivalent of not being born or coming to existence equally immoral to being killed?

It depends. If you exist in this timeline along with many others, and I went back in time to alter the future by removing a very evil past that ends up preventing you and many others from existing, does that count as killing? I couldn't do it, because I have no right to decide who gets to exist or not. This is our timeline, changing the past could create a reality where the present and future is far worse than the one we had.

Do you think that we deserve to exist any more than alternative people in our place?

Absalutly not, which is why the past must remain the way it is. Who are we to say who exists or not by changing it? The damage that could be done by altering the past is beyond comprehension. Which is why I'm glad we cannot interfear with the past.

Do you think that is intrinsically so? I personally think it all completely depends on if the alternative is more or less moral than how things are now.

It doesn't matter how good or bad the alternate reality would be. It's about taking away people's existance and asking yourself...do you have the right? The damage that could be done is far beyond comprehension and even the smallest of changes in history is enough to take many lives away. Even if our intention was good, the out come could be a very evil one. If I was aboard the titanic one day before it sunk, I would say nothing and wouldn't interfear at all. I would let it steam off to it's doom. Saving it will create an alternate future. If the titanic never sank, how would we learn from the mistakes made? Purhaps by saving it, another ship with far more people on board sinks instead by making the would be mistakes of the titanic? History must play out as it has, changing it could be devistating.

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Here's another example. I love jessica but due to certain problems I can't be with her. Now she has a little girl. if I went back in time and got into a relationship with her long before she met Olly, her little girl would not exist. I would of created an alternate reality. Taking away someone's existance.
Is that right or wrong?

So even if I could go back in time, I would change nothing. What has happened must remain so or an alternate future you will create in it's place.