Good. Now, define code of conduct.
S
What code of conduct do "atheists" live by?
by The Berean 105 Replies latest jw friends
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AllTimeJeff
From where did this inborn intuitive power come from ? Is Collins dictionary overly influenced by religious bias ????
Semantics battles will only result in all of us chasing our tail. No one will be changing belief systems as a result of this thread.....
If it is overly influenced by religious bias, then that should be easy enough to see. Considering that there are 4 possible definitions, depending on context, then no.
To have an inborn (born with) power, whether that be math, the ability to excel in athletics, or to be sensitive to morals is just that, inborn. The definition does not imply, "implanted". That is different.
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drwtsn32
"Implanted" refers to skills learned while hooked up to the Matrix.
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Narkissos
Imo nobody lives by a "code of conduct," unless this expression is taken to mean the actual behaviour that your cultural, family and educational background, as well as your social environment and personal trajectory, have produced as yours. Of course this can change in time, but it is very unlikely that a mere change of religious belief would alter it drastically. Imo, theists fantasising about what they would do if they didn't believe in God generally do not realise how difficultand unnatural it would be for them to change their behaviour (even for the "worse").
Whatever the legal and moral rules of a particular society and their theoretical justification (God, tradition, democracy, common sense, etc.), the vast majority will be decent (and consider themselves as "good"), while a few will distinguish themselves as either "super-good" or "bad," out of a structural necessity. Transgression and punishment (if only by social reprobation) are an integral part of the rule. No society without an "ideal" to look up to and a fringe to look down upon.
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AllTimeJeff
"Implanted" refers to skills learned while hooked up to the Matrix.
Lol....
So as not to be implying anything, I will say that the attempts to juxtapose "codes of conduct, morals, and ethics" and then to say we are inborn with them needs context. Very rarely have I seen a discussion of this sort be anything more then an attempt to justify theistic faith and worship, and to use as evidence, "codes of conduct, morals, and ethics".
To me, that implies having these things "implanted" by a higher power, the gods of a theists faith. Atheists argue against this implanting of morals as at best, a weak possibility with zero evidence.
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caliber
As a US Soldier, you kill a suspected terrorist in a marketplace in Baghdad. Across the street a shopowner straps a bomb to his wife who blows up your fellow soldiers. Do either have a guilty conscience? Are either or both wrong?
The bomb carrier has in death freed his conscience.. but what of the US solder.. read about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
then please tell me how free their conscience feels ! There are I believe over a hundred suicides of soldiers who have
fought in Iraq... what pray tell would be the cause ????
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drwtsn32
The bomb carrier has in death freed his conscience
Read again..he strapped the bomb to his wife in this hypothetical scenario.
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drwtsn32
Very rarely have I seen a discussion of this sort be anything more then an attempt to justify theistic faith and worship, and to use as evidence, "codes of conduct, morals, and ethics".
My experience is the same.
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drwtsn32
Good thoughts, Narkissos.
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AllTimeJeff
Caliber, I have to ask, what does the guilty conscience represent? Theists and atheists of all stripes deal with guilt on some level, proportional to their conduct?