Is There a Point To Living a Moral Life?

[Mister Agenda]

"Moral", in terms of [Good, Honest] deemed by traditions through time. Maybe to include a few slightly general commandments: Lies, stealing, adultery, etc.

I mean... if there is no one or nothing to [say you are wrong, but you] about; a little swing w/ your buddies wife, or that $10 the acne faced kid gave you extra w/ your change at the Walmart; or telling your wife you were out w/ your buddy instead of his wife... How do you keep it in check? Or do you?

You know we do, ronedee. And it really bugs you that most of us behave no worse than the average religious person and some of us behave better.

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Yeah, yeah....I know you would say that Christians are doing the same thing....And they are! But, they do have a conviction in the Lord Jesus. and they know that they will answer to their words and deeds.

So it doesn't make them behave any better, just keeps them afraid? You're quite the salesman.

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What do you have to answer to?

 Those close to us. Society. The law. But primarily ourselves. Our own consciences. Our principles and values. Our self esteem.  I can't hurt other people without hurting myself to some extent as well. If I start down that path, I will lose myself. I will become a person other people would be better off without. It will gain me trivial things while costing me everything that is most important. And while those things are subjective to varying degrees, they are certainly real.  

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Is there a point to living any kind of "honest" life?

I can see why you want to know that, because like so many Christians you don't have a clue as to why you shouldn't be dishonest if you could get away with it. You're stuck at a toddler's stage of development, where the reason you shouldn't bite your sister is because mommy says 'no, no!'. Even a seven year-old can get that she shouldn't bite her sister because it hurts her and makes her cry and that makes the seven year-old feel bad, too. That's still not at the adult level, but it would be an enormous improvement over where you are seemingly at, currently.

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As an observation as a Christian... Your words are pretty mean spirited to any religious.

Hypocrite. 

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And I've witnessed a lot of hate here.

 You have a beam in your eye there, hypocrite. 

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Maybe you feel you have that right?

More right than you, since we're usually minding our own business before you start accusing us of things and misrepresenting us. 

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But also people are individuals, and deserve at least to be heard for their ideas, and concepts relating to just about anything.... religious or otherwise.

Yet I've never seen you let that idea even momentarily give you pause before you start generalizing about atheists.

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Anyway... what do you as an atheists feel is your moral compass. And what is the gauge set at? Honesty in general... where is the line drawn, and how?

For startes, as you should full well know by now, neither mere atheism nor mere theism set anyone's moral compass. The only thing you can say about the moral compass of every atheist or theist is that it's set by some other consideration than the mere fact that they do or don't believe some sort of god or God is real.

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I hope you take this thread seriously!

 Have you considered that an OP where you don't insult us might be conducive to that? 

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Thanks for your answers. As a Christian I have a guide/threat (if you will) in my life. I'm just curious how a person acts w/o what many here would call an "obstacle"?

Your posting behavior indicates that with the aid of Christ, you have the moral development of a baby troll. I think the average person on the fence encountering your body of work would be more likely to become an atheist than if they never heard a word you said. That's the thing I like about you.

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Again! Good to be back celebrating ONE YEAR w/ all my A-team buddies!

I'm glad to have you back. It would have been nice if you had learned to treat people the way you'd want to be treated while you were gone, but apparently that's not something your religion has been able to successfully teach you.

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...for an Atheist that is?

Good question! I know how Dostoevsky would have answered.

... I figured you'd all want to wish me a Happy Anniversary!!

I remember when you joined. I thought it great to have a representative from the Whore of Babylon here (wink, wink).

Given the natural cynicism and nastiness of Atheists [here] in general... is there any reason to live a "Moral" life?

Evolution! Its all evolution! Hip Hip Hurray! Random chance has given us reason, values and brotherly love.

Yeah, yeah....I know you would say that Christians are doing the same thing....And they are!

Those vile hypocrites. How dare they HAVE beliefs to violate. At least if you don't have any values you cannot violate them.

As an observation as a Christian... Your words are pretty mean spirited to any religious. And I've witnessed a lot of hate here.

Atheists don't hate believers. They just think they are stupid bigots. Don't take it personally. (And they all know a gay couple that's so much nicer than any church-goers.)

Honesty in general... where is the line drawn, and how?

I TOLD you! Evolution, man.

I hope you take this thread seriously!

You've been here and still haven't learned that anything a believer says is just a big joke to most of them?

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We're pack animals. We need others to survive, and not just to protect us from other packs.  Morals are different from society to society, but we all have rules of conduct for living in the pack. Is there a point? Yes. To be able to live with the pack.

And they call us "sheeple".

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I do hate people claiming that humans can survive death ...

That's a lot of people and a stupid reason for hating them.

From the assholery, can I take it that you used to be known as Chad?

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I don't want you to fuck my partner, so I won't fuck yours. I don't want you to steal my goods, so I won't steal yours.

But if you wanted to fuck and steal and you knew you could get away with it what's stopping you?

Ah, yet another Christian for whom this remains an eternal mystery.

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Context matters and I think you missed that.

No. You were pretty clear. You hate people that believe in life after death. Ergo, you hate your mother. Logic's a bitch.
Open mouth. Insert foot.

You seem to be a liar, Chad. Or is the idea of hating the sin but loving the sinner too big to get your head around?

And by the way, why don't YOU cheat and kill? Panentheism provides no hell or judgment day. But of course, you're lying about that , too, aren't you?

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People get away with it all the time.

Not if there is a just God. Which is the whole point of the thread in case you missed it.

Actually, you missed the point of the thread, which is about why one should be moral if one can get away with immorality. Which question has you at a loss, apparently.

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But if you wanted to fuck and steal and you knew you could get away with it what's stopping you?

I don't want to.

But if I did... oh wait, but I don't.

I'm not saying I have never done anything that goes against my moral system, but I have felt awful, therefore I keep away from it, face the consequences, or do what I can to fix the broken pieces.

It's called integrity. Yeah, even atheists can have it.

So can Christians, though you couldn't tell it by ronedee and Chad.

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From what I've read so far, it seems like it's a good thing many of the religious are religious, if they weren't they really might start doing harmful things to others simply because they no longer believe in the threat of hell.

Most of them aren't actually as bad at heart as they've been convinced.