Those who don't believe in life after death - Why not Kill Yourself?

[arahant]

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Right and wrong comes from the Bible, that's how people determined right and wrong, and from that it became common knowledge

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I thought I cleared this up for you earlier. Right and wrong do NOT come from the Bible. The bible contains a codification of right and wrong, but it isn't the source. It's not like before the 10 commandents came along, everyone thought that killing people was hunky-dory.

[madnak]

Is this guy really seriously as clueless as all of that? Sadly, I think he probably is. I'm not getting a strong "troll" read.

By the way vhawk, your posts lately have been excellent. You'll have to excuse me if I'm not so helpful.

[vhawk01]

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Is this guy really seriously as clueless as all of that? Sadly, I think he probably is. I'm not getting a strong "troll" read.

By the way vhawk, your posts lately have been excellent. You'll have to excuse me if I'm not so helpful.

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Yeah, I'm in a post-test lull, so I've had more time to work on my chops. My new goal in life is to be the guy who sells universal health care to the small segment of Americans who think coherently and logically (I'll let politicians sell it to the rest) so I have a reason to work on my critical reasoning, and more importantly, critical argument skills.

[Al68]

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My new goal in life is to be the guy who sells universal health care to the small segment of Americans who think coherently and logically

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I assume you're referring to libertarians here. Good luck with that! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[ChrisV]

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I think its a safe assumption that a majority would agree with.... And I can already guess ur reply to this statement is , well a majority believes in the Bible, and that isnt true either. blah. gg.

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Well, my response is twofold... Firstly that there's no evidence beyond your opinion that that is what people actually think, and secondly that if they did think that, it wouldn't mean they were correct. Stereotyped beliefs don't have a great track record. Also, as chez points out, a majority of people do not believe in the Bible. That's your cultural bias talking. Only a third of people worldwide identify as Christians, and many of them are non-practicing, often with just a vague belief in a higher power. For instance, in Australia, where I live, 70% of people identify as Christians, but only 7.5% of the population attends church on a regular basis.

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I find this interesting and I'm just gonna give my opinion on it. Your an athiest who believes in right and wrong? Has right and wrong been proven? Is there evidence?

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The basis of all morality is arbitrary. Secular humanists usually have an ethical system based on the happiness of others, some variant of utilitarianism. Your claim of a superior morality based on what it says in the Bible comes off somewhat empty to people who think it's just a book.

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Right and wrong comes from the Bible, that's how people determined right and wrong, and from that it became common knowledge, so do you know that some of your beliefs of right and wrong come from the writings of man that say God 100% exist?

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This is so wrong I don't know where to begin. How did the ancient Greeks have such a developed ethical philosophy when they hadn't read the Bible? Do you really think that if the Bible weren't around you'd have no sense of right and wrong? The idea that you derive your morality wholly from scripture is demonstrably false. Take this infamous passage from Genesis (New International Version, 19:4-8):

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4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

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Lot is elsewhere portrayed as a righteous man. Do you think he acted morally here? If not, why not? By what method can you tell that this action is immoral whereas other stories in the Bible are moral lessons?

[vhawk01]

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My new goal in life is to be the guy who sells universal health care to the small segment of Americans who think coherently and logically

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I assume you're referring to libertarians here. Good luck with that! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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I'm a libertarian and I have reasonable access to politicians and various movers and shakers. I am optimistic! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Schweitzer]

Going to get a bit off topic here but just wanted to clear up one thing:

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Remember, most of you use about 5% of ur brain and im just hitting 1%...
:-)

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I assume you are referring to the myth that we only use 10% of our brain. This is false: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

Also, for SitNHit (and others like him) I just wanted to say that I do not believe in a god of any form and I consider myself very moral. Of all of my friends (almost all of which believe in some sort of god) my one atheist friend and myself volunteer in many different ways regularly. We are both very nice people and do not need to rewarded in the afterlife in order to do good. My more religiously-inclined friends make no effort to do anything selfless despite the fact that they believe their eternal soul depends on what they do during this finite lifetime.

[MuresanForMVP]

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Im saying that it doesnt matter what I feel about it, it would be morally wrong to end whatever I have instored for the future. For someone who doesnt believe, it wouldnt be.

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Hah? Does your own morality depend on some Superdaddy in the sky?

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QFT...I don't need to read some book written thousands of years ago to tell me that I shouldn't kill someone or steal. I respect someone's right to believe in a religion, but to me that [censored] just seems so stupid, and full of such complete contradiction.

[vhawk01]

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Im saying that it doesnt matter what I feel about it, it would be morally wrong to end whatever I have instored for the future. For someone who doesnt believe, it wouldnt be.

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Hah? Does your own morality depend on some Superdaddy in the sky?

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QFT...I don't need to read some book written thousands of years ago to tell me that I shouldn't kill someone or steal. I respect someone's right to believe in a religion, but to me that [censored] just seems so stupid, and full of such complete contradiction.

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SitNHit is obviously pretty naive. He isn't a troll though. He is trying to figure out why there are confusing things that happen, like atheists who don't kill themselves. In so doing, he is bound to be challenged on some of his beliefs that he might otherwise have gone his entire life treating as 'given' and 'normal.' Just look at his view on what % of people believe in the Bible or believe that atheists are narcissistic and immoral.

[alphatmw]

btw i wonder how sitnhit's god would feel that he thinks life is so worthless that without the threat of eternal punishment, he wouldn't even bother living it out.

actually, the fact that sitnhit's life sucks so much that he would kill himself if not for his fear of hell makes me feel better. seriously, it sounds like his life really, really sucks.