by Blueblades 53 Replies latest jw friends
Without God, what is left of morality?
Without God, what purpose is there in man's life?
If we do not believe in God, how can we be certain of anything?
If God does not exist, whom can we turn to in a time of crises?
If there is no afterlife, who will reward virtue and punish injustice?
If God does not exist, what becomes of the worth and dignity of each person?
Without God , how can man achieve happiness?
I know the answers to these type of questions, do you?
Blueblades
Hi blueblades,
Perhaps we might divide the questions into two groups.
If there is objectively no "God," there never was, and nothing is changed.
Il we cannot subjectively believe in "God" anymore, we might learn from those who never did -- or we'll have to invent something else to fill the "need"...
Thinking deep this evening huh? Hope is an internal thing. most of us were raised to believe in god and that he watches over us. thusly the values instilled in us are based upon that presumption. The key to your question is: why do we need god to be good people, to have dignity and all that good stuff?
If we need god to have all the things you mention 95% of the world might as well drop dead. IMO more people in the world dont have god than do. They may have a measure of devotion and a basis for the faith thats been instilled in them, but the true depth that true faith takes is missing.
The reason I say this is because most with faith, cannot stand a tough scrutiny of their beliefs. Ytou point out any discrepency in their beliefs or doctrine and most people of faith will label you a pagan or apostate and than shut their ears.
The true key is the leaders or originators of faith. Look at the man Jesus how did he react to those who had opinions different than his? He reasoned with them and I like to think that he tried to understand and empathize with them.
We as a group of people need to learn to accept 2 valuable points in life. The first that their will be those who's value's and perception will defer from our's. The second is that its OK.
I think that based on our witness past, we especially feel a need to covert people to our understanding. In reality we dont need to convert no one. Dialogue with others yes, communicate with them by all means, come to a mutual understanding, idealic. But to try and make others believe with our beliefs is IMO wrong and egotistical.
Tigers just went up 4-3 on the yankee's
What does God have to do with any of these questions?
Blueblades - Aren't you "begging the question," so to speak? Don't your questions presuppose an ["acceptable"] answer. In fact, your questions have really nothing to do with the existence or non-existence of God. Many people are under the erroneous assumption that ethcis and morality derive from religion, whereas, in fact, the reverse is true - religion derives from a pre-existing ethos or moral code. Rather than religion being the basis of morals, morals are the basis of religion. As Kant points out in his Critique of Practical Reason, to have a religion is "to acknowledge all of one's duties as sacred commandments." Kant taught that either morals are autonomous, or they do not exist at all.
Or maybe you should read an even earlier philosopher named Seneca. Seneca wrote: "When you have learned not to hope, I shall teach you how to want."
I gather from your questions that you think the "godless" have no morals or purpose in life. Well, your wrong. I don't need a book or an imaginary creature to tell me what is right and fair. And I don't need for there to be a supreme purpose of life for my life to have purpose.
changeling
If I need a book to tell me how to be moral and treat my fellow man, maybe I don't have much inner strength or morality.
If the "purpose" of this life is to get to the next one promised by a God, then this current life doesn't seem to have a purpose.
Life is its own purpose. It's up to each of us to develop our legacy and leave it behind, and to try to leave the world a little better than we found it. Some do that with belief in God, others do it without such belief.
I gather from your questions that you think the "godless" have no morals or purpose in life. Well, your wrong. I don't need a book or an imaginary creature to tell me what is right and fair. And I don't need for there to be a supreme purpose of life for my life to have purpose.
changeling
Morals? purpose? imaginary creature? without God life is useless.
Life is its own purpose. It's up to each of us to develop our legacy and leave it behind, and to try to leave the world a little better than we found it. Some do that with belief in God, others do it without such belief.
you mean like Hitler!
Without God, what is left of morality?
If you can only be moral-figure out right and wrong actions-if under the instruction of an authority figure, you are a philosophical child. People with mature consciences have no trouble with questions of morality in the absence of an authority figure.
Without God, what purpose is there in man's life?
Well, biologically, we have the same purpose as all other life on this planet--to reproduce to carry on the species. Now it is arguable that humankind has been a bit too successful in this purpose...
If we do not believe in God, how can we be certain of anything?
I can't figure out how anyone can feel certain of "god". Lot's of other things I AM certain about-the sun will come up in the morning, I would give my life for my children, the first Friday of the month is going to be busy at the bank where I work...
If God does not exist, whom can we turn to in a time of crises?
I've never known a god to step in and help out in any crisis. When I was a Witness his inability/disinclination to help out was always because he was "testing your faith"...
If there is no afterlife, who will reward virtue and punish injustice?
Uhhh...Virtue is its own reward. And injustice is not always punished. Geez...do you really believe that life, the cosmos and everything is FAIR??? Too bad you can't ask Job's first wife...
If God does not exist, what becomes of the worth and dignity of each person?
(See above) It never seemed that the god of the Bible gave much evidence of seeing the worth or dignity of each person...ya know like the first born of Egypt, or Job's first batch of children, or the people of Jericho, those NOT on the ark....
Without God , how can man achieve happiness?
That happiness thing was a much bigger struggle when I worried about Yahweh being in the mix...
