Why are we good?

[HereComesThePain101]

If you have read Richard Dawkins book The God Delusion Then you know that he says that the reason we are good is because evolution has made so those more inclined to peace usually survived and passed that trait to there offspring (us). In a counter book God Is No Illusion a Christian argues that god has laid down rules (the commandments) which determine how we act. He scoffs at the thought that evolution or Society has any affect on how we act. I spent a while thinking and thought about things like slavery. As we know now Slavery is wrong and immoral so does that mean all 1800 farmers were evil bigots. No they were born on the assumption that this was the way the world was. In the issuing battle between The North and The South The North won and stopped Slavery and now Society has shown that Slavery is wrong but in the Bible it clearly shows that slavery is ok.

So what do you think is the reason we are good i am more inclined to believe Richard but what do you think?

 

[blood and thunder]

yeah, i'm not a crazy militant atheist but pretty much any argument against that is going to be dodgy at best. i'd be interested to hear someone defend that shit though.

 

[Milkyway!]

In a counter book God Is No Illusion a Christian argues that god has laid down rules (the commandments) which determine how we act.

To any christian, I believe this could be true. I know many atheist who read the bible, and practice what it teaches, yet do not practice the entire faith part. The people tell me "If you live by the bible you've lived a perfect life" Now then, whether or not thats why we as a human race are "good". But I do know personally, that has a lot to do with my own morals. But if this christian read the bible properly, he'd realize that the bible teaches that none of us are good. As it says "Theres none good, no not one" The commandments tell us how to live our life, but theres no way any one man alone could follow these commandments fully, unless they were God themself (Jesus).

He scoffs at the thought that evolution or Society has any affect on how we act.

Those who don't believe in God, and act as good as the next guy. To this I say we've spent years trying to shape our society in as much as a Utopia as possible. Things like stealing, murder, etc are agaisnt the law. I don't think anyone is actually good, they're simply scared of the consequences that follow breaking such a law.

I spent a while thinking and thought about things like slavery. As we know now Slavery is wrong and immoral so does that mean all 1800 farmers were evil bigots.

Actually, the farmers of the 19th century that practiced slavery were some of the most moral people in the world. Its just their economy was shaped on slavery, and they were taught their entire lives that this is the way the world was. Black people were simply pets to them, to do their work. Just like a horse, dog, sheep, etc. Everything was here to serve the white man, and they used things like Darwanism, and Christianity to prove their points.

In the issuing battle between The North and The South The North won and stopped Slavery and now Society has shown that Slavery is wrong but in the Bible it clearly shows that slavery is ok.

They simply stopped slavery in the states that suceeded. Northern states were still aloud to have slaves, but their slaves were in a diffrent manner than the south. Its called the Factory System, people worked in the factory, got factory money, shopped in the factory stores, and lived in the factory housing. Which is basically what slavery was. Its just the North wanted to punish the South for suceeding, the abolishment of slavery was their way of doing so.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Richard Dawkins argument there is ultimately wrong, societal norms are what determine what is good and what isn't. Evolution does not account for a peaceful gene. anyone that promotes that is pushing a very very dangerous agenda, they promote stagnation and not development.

The concept of good in and of itself is tricky to deal with it goes right into the depth of the human psyche. Much of what is described as being a good person is relative, in antiquity being good was to do with how strong your sword arm was. I am simplifying it obviously but that was the general gist of life during that period. Other times it is too do with how well you provide for your family and your community.

Regardless it is all to do with the Societal expectations of what being good is. anyone claiming otherwise is an idiot and deserves to be shut up.

 

[Razor]

I spent a while thinking and thought about things like slavery. As we know now Slavery is wrong and immoral so does that mean all 1800 farmers were evil bigots. No they were born on the assumption that this was the way the world was. In the issuing battle between The North and The South The North won and stopped Slavery and now Society has shown that Slavery is wrong but in the Bible it clearly shows that slavery is ok.

Well, you see. The Bible was written in a time when slavery was a universal rule. People had slaves. And if you wanted those slaves to be Christians, there might as well be a law in there saying they should listen to their masters. I mean, if you have a book saying the slaves should rise up against their masters people back then wouldn't have liked your religion a lot. and Rome might have sentenced a lot of Christians to death for Treason, arguing the attempted mass revolt of slaves.

But yeah. Impromptu history lesson right there.

So what do you think is the reason we are good i am more inclined to believe Richard but what do you think?

It's all an argument of altruism. Altruism is a bi-law of Evolution that states that a creature can increase their evolutionary fitness by helping those around it. These actions can be anything from giving out food to those without to raising a orphaned child. In fact, that just so happens to be my argument about why being gay is still evolutionarily sound. But let's move on from that.

If you were to listen to Richard Dawkins, which I wouldn't propose do...seeing as though he's a mean little Atheist, that is what you would want to go for. I, however, go for a more Optimistic approach. I believe that every individual is born with an innate sense of good. It's what they do with that innate sense of good that determines their position in the afterlife. If they fail to uphold that basic sense of good, they go to Hell. Really simple.

..but I'm a Deist. One would expect such a statement from myself.