Simple question for Christians.

[Catholic_Lady]

From an objective/scientific standpoint, yes. Looking out for each other is a good way of making a good society, which is then good for all of us. That is what has worked, and how we've evolved to be.

On an individual level, the motives may vary wildly. Some people may simply treat people well in order to curry favour and to avoid being arrested. Personally, I treat not only people but animals well (animal welfare is fucking disgraceful). There's not a lot I personally get back from treating animals well. I actually make life much harder for myself. I would think most people go above what is needed just to keep society going, and genuinely care. For example, I stop people on the street and ask for directions. Most of the time, they help me. They don't know me, or get anything particular out of helping me. We're just wired that way, on the whole. We help.

Of course there are exceptions, and societies can become hideously corrupted when someone evil gets in charge by force.

Oh yes, we're also quite prone to follow others as well. This can be good or bad depending on who we follow.

Let's do a quick run down here, because unfortunately I'm getting kinda lost. I feel like I may not be understanding your answers correctly.

Me: "You think the corner stone of morality is to treat others the way you want to be treated. Right?"

You: "Yes"

Me: "Why is it moral to treat others the way they want to be treated? Why can't it be moral for me to treat them however I want, if it makes me feel good?"

You: "Why should I treat others as I want to be treated (or as they want to be)? Because I care about them. We only have one life that we're sure of, and I want us all to have the best life we can have. Scientifically, this is a product of evolution. Personally, I care. People matter to me. Animals matter to me."

Me: "So what If the people who don't care about every person they encounter? Why should they treat those people as they would want to be treated?
Also, what do you mean by "scientifically this is the process of evolution?"

You: "People who don't care? Well, it can still be pragmatic. If you keep screwing people over you'll be short on allies, and also we have the law so we can lock those people up. Such people are fairly rare, who have no sense of morality (sociopaths). As for "should", well there's not much we can do. We'd like them to care about people, but if they don't, we can only give them reasons to care or deterrents not to hurt people.

We evolved as a cooperative species. We work well in groups, better than individuals. So natural selection has made us tend more and more towards people who care about society and not just themselves. It's not uniform, but it's a big trend. Society just wouldn't work otherwise! That is essentially where morality comes from. (Morality as in valueing wellbeing of others)."

Me: "You're saying that it is ultimately in our best interest to "treat people as they want to be treated", because it is better for society. And if something is better for society, it is ultimately better for us personally... and that is why we should follow the golden rule. It all comes back to ourselves personally. Correct?"

It seems the part of your answer that addressed my question was this part: "From an objective/scientific standpoint, yes. Looking out for each other is a good way of making a good society, which is then good for all of us. That is what has worked, and how we've evolved to be."

So basically, since some people just don't care about every single person they interact with, it doesn't make much sense to say "people ought to follow the golden rule because they care about every person they are interacting with." Since many of them don't. We have established that. So then, to explain why we ought to follow the golden rule, you use science and evolution. You say that the golden rule should be followed by all, regardless of whether or not they care about everyone, simply because it is best for society and therefore best for themselves.

Does this rundown all look correct to you?