RE: Why be good?
May 27, 2015 at 8:52 pm
(This post was last modified: May 27, 2015 at 8:53 pm by Randy Carson.)
(May 26, 2015 at 7:44 pm)Esquilax Wrote:(May 26, 2015 at 7:29 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: But why? If God does not exist, why be good?
Please circle which of these two human cultural sets you would wish to live in:
A: Modern society.
B: Mad Max world.
Being good nets you option A. Not being good nets you option B. That's just logically true: human society has been built, from the ground up, by our cooperation and the establishment of our social contract. Literally every single thing that you enjoy in your life stems from those two things, including actually your life too, in all probability, given that the medical science that extends human life is also a result of cooperation. It's so very strange to me, how many theists ask this question, as though they assume human society requires no upkeep or buy-in from actual humans.
It's interesting that you should mention a Mad Max world. The polar opposites are well-chosen.
You've identified cooperation and the social contract and the reasons for being good. However, as important as these things are for peaceful and harmonious human interaction, they are still utterly inconsistent with the a worldview that only natural, material things exist. To be consistent with this claim, we'd be forced to admit that "being good" is really just a matter of personal conviction or group consensus, not an ideal that God desires for all of us to strive for.
Can atheists justify, according to atheist principles, why they believe it is "wrong" to pollute oceans, cut down rain forests, or hack into someone’s bank account and steal their life savings? If the stronger members of the human species engage in such behaviors in their pursuit of dominating the weaker members, and if there is no God and therefore no transcendent, prescriptive moral law given by God to guide us into knowing what is right and what is wrong, then on what grounds can atheists legitimately oppose such behaviors?
Doing so would be intolerant and would have the net result of the atheist forcing his morality on others -- the very thing atheists object to in the first place.