Problem of good and evil for an atheist

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Whether you like it or not. There ARE things which are absolutely evil and things which are absolutely good

As an atheist, I have no opinion on morality or any other philosophical issue.

However,as a skeptic,secular humanist,egoist,materialist and moral relativist, I have a lot opinions. Many of them differ from your Judaeo-Christian world view..:

Although I have searched,I have so far been unable to find a single moral absolute. The Bible is replete with behaviour most declared Christians would find despicable.


I consider conscience to be the only arbiter of personal morality.IE: I recognise no external or transcendent moral authority. As far as I've ever been able to determine,societal morality is based on pragmatism and self interest.

There are many actions,which in context, I consider evil. There are no actions I consider evil in an absolute sense.

Perhaps counter intuitively to the unreflective, moral relativism is not a soft option.In fact in fact,it can be far more demanding than any dogmatic moral code.One needs to constantly question one's own motives and behaviour. It is also far more tolerant of others than any of the Abrahamic faiths.There is no personal certitude.Those CERTAIN of their moral stance scare the crap out of me.

Perhaps familiarise yourself with different notions of morality before insisting your view is the only right one.


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Moral relativism may be any of several descriptive, meta-ethical, or normative positions regarding the differences in moral or ethical judgments between different people and cultures:
Descriptive relativism is merely the positive or descriptive position that there exist, in fact, fundamental disagreements about the right course of action even when the same facts obtain and the same consequences seem likely to arise.[1]
Meta-ethical relativism, on the other hand, is the meta-ethical position that the truth or falsity of moral judgments, or their justification, is not objective or universal but instead relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of a group of people.[2]
Normative relativism, further still, is the prescriptive or normative position that as there is no universal moral standard by which to judge others, we ought to tolerate the behavior of others even when it runs counter to our personal or cultural moral standards.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism