Originally posted by: Harvey
Originally posted by: Skoorb
As an atheist, why does a person bother living?
As an atheist, who gives a flying fsck? Start with the existential reality that we're here. We can spend all the time we have until we pollute or nuke each other into oblivion to ponder why or figure out how to avoid doing ourselves in.
Meanwhile, we ARE here, and centuries of observation inform us that general concepts of good and evil exist across most human societies, independent of any particular philosophy, theology or other belief systems.
AFIC, religion is just another political power structure, one based on fear and ignorance. The "Ten Commandments" (take your choice of versions from various dogma sets) are a set of rules to keep a microcosm from self-destructing while running around the desert, and it's all based on the theory of "bad vibes." :shocked:
Don't kill. Don't steal. Don't hit on your buddy's SO. Why? It causes bad vibes.
Take care of your parents. Why? They took care of you when you were too little to do it for yourself. Now, it's your turn to repay the favor. Anything else = bad vibes.
Remember the sabbath. Why? Human beings burn out. When they do, they get mean and nasty. In other words, bad vibes.
Then, there's the enforcer. As a small band running around the Sinai, there wasn't a lot of spare manpower to enforce these rules so when the uneducated masses ask why they should obey them, the leader tells them,
GOD SAID SO! and the crowd says, "
HOLY SHIT! Guess we better." :Q
Religion is just a bad excuse for philosophy. Both attempt to resolve questions about the unknown, but at least, in philosophy, "
I don't know" is an acceptible answer. :light:
Meanwhile, if more people spent more time trying to get things right in this life, they'd have far less to worry about in any supposed or imagined "next" life. :thumbsup: