I'm an athiest. I do not believe in any sort of higher being. Its just what I think according to my own interpretations of science and religon. Morals are straightforward. There are shades of gray, but I believe deep down inside, we all have a basic sense of whats right and whats wrong. Killing for nothing other then killing is bad. Greed is bad. Hate is bad. Love is good. Serenety is good. Nature is good. Companionship is good. If you can follow your own basic set of morals according to what you really believe is good, you will accomplish several things. First of all, our time on the planet is short, and your making others time here much more enjoyable. Second, if there is a god and some magical afterlife, your in. I believe that if there is a god, he doesnt care by what name you call him or what you call your religon. If you are a good person and adhere to your morals, then you are on the good list. On the topic of morals, I understand its possible for one mans morals to be that everyone should be killed. Thats not a good moral. Im going to borrow from the christian church here for a minute, but dont be afraid. Do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you. Do not kill. Do not steal. Live in harmony with your enviornment. Judge not. I know its a bunch of random stuff borrowed from a few places, but those are my morals. Yes, you can twist it a little in order to change the entire meaning, but its time for you to abandon your inner stoner and drop the overanalyticality. If god does exist, and you adhere to your own good morals, then you will make it into heaven and have eternal orgasmic pleasure. If god doesn't exist, well, thanks for being a positive contributor to society. Your contributions really helped change the world and I'm sure you will not go unremembered. Someone needs to make a guide on how to create your own morals, because I'm sure its a bit differnt from person to person. As long as they are good, then your golden. I really wish everyone (including the new blades at gc) would just get along and live out their lives to the fullest. You've got some 70 odd years to live. "Are you livin' to live, are you livin' to die? Are you livin' a tale, are you livin' a lie? You got one life to live, are you livin' it right? You got one life to live... Who wants a ride?" -KMK
While I do believe in God, I want to commend you on a wonderful post. I wish so badly that everyone wouldbjust live by their own morals and let others do the same. It is part of my religion to evangelize (not door to door, my goodness!) but I refuse to be overzealous in that, like so many are. I have no problem mentioning my faith, and I have no problem talking about it and taeching it to anybody who is open to it and wants to hear me go on. That is what is imprtant here. Repect for others beliefs. Not tolerance, but true respect. I have as much respect for any Atheist as I do for any follower of God/Allah/Buddha because they have their beliefs and the inner strength and conviction to pursue them. in this we are all the same. You can;t not believe in something, even if that something is that life is coincidence, or even just being content in your belief that it doesn't even matter at all. I need to stop because I ramble and I'm not sure where this is really going...I'm mad repping you though. Fucking bollocks, I'll do it later.
Oh man I agree a hundred percent. Really when you think about it most of the major religions all require practiconers to be good people. The fact that the Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have some main core concepts (just disagree with the messiah will/has come.) So we have to be getting something right? And with most (don't know enough to say all) eastern religions require you to be a good person, at peace with yourself and your environment and respect and love life.
Exactly! If you are truly at peace with yourself then who cares what beliefs took you there. You certainly won't.
i think as long as you enjoy life, and have fun without doing it at the expense of other people, its all good. fuck having to be all religous and shit just enjoy shit. why waste half your day praising a power that might not exist? one of my uncles is ortho jew and he has to say a prayer b4 every meal and has to do some wierd ass rituals throughout the day. we asked him if he was going to buy the car he was lookin at and he says let me consult my rabi. wow. lame. what a waste of a life. enjoy it dont waste it on pointless unfun shit. wtf
exactly, that is extremely well said alpha. my family is catholic. i attended catholic school from k-10, then public for 11-12 (<---thank god) and now i don't have a religion. i follow my own set of morals. i act based upon my own judgement, and nothing else. anyone ever get angry when you see a bumber sticker that says, 50 years Under God let's keep it that way! what the fuck is that? first of all if you don't get the reference it's to, "one nation under god" in the pledge. but i don't get the 50 years, and i don't get why the person would want america to be kept under god? very stupid bumper sticker IMHO.
Who is to say whether a moral is good or bad? It's all in the eye of the beholder. The killer who believes he is doing good, is doing good. The person who believes killing is bad believes the killer is doing evil. Well who is to say which is correct? It's all a matter of opinion. It all depends on what you think. But, again, what makes you so right? I too believe that killing is bad, I believe that stealing, rape, and all that other bad stuff is wrong, but that doesnt mean I am right. It's just what I think. Nobody knows for sure about anything, it's all guessing based on what we've experienced so far. And just because we've experienced things doesnt mean we perceived it in the true, universal form. We simply DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING!!!!!
Basic fundamental morals are all about respecting the rights of others. I beleive that as long as what you're doing does not infringe on the rights of others (life, liberty, persuit of hapiness...ect) then you are free to do as you please. Many religions have added their own morals. Certain religious groups, i wont mention any but we all know who they are, try to legislate morality for everybody, and to that I stand up and firmly say "FUCK YOU." You don't have the right to tell other people what they can and cannot do based on a religion they don't even follow. ^sorry about that I got a little off topic but people like that really piss me off. Anyway, I like what many of you are saying. It's good to know there are some sane people in this world.
Killing someone that isnt directly endangering your life is the worst thing you can do. Life is the most precious thing we have on this planet. You cant create it. You can clone, but you cant create life from nothing. Like I said, I dont have enough knowledge to tell others how to make their own morals. Thats something you've got to do on your own. There are morals that are wrong. Blatently wrong. And killing someone who isnt directly endangering you (on purpose) is wrong. I could go on and on. By killing someone, your changing the future. I really dont believe in predestination, I believe everything we do today, shapes tomorrow, and that theres no set rules. Because of this, we need to be careful of what tomorrow is going to be like. We can take the easy road today burning our fuel and chopping down our trees, but tomorrow, we're going to regret it. By killing someone, youre getting rid of any ideas that person might have had. Who knows, maybe they invent something so spectacular it changes human evolution. I think we're at a time where our own evolution is going to be dependant upon the technology we use. By killing someone, your getting rid of an infinite number of possible generations. Perhaps in 20,000 years, their descendants will create somethign new. Your getting rid of all that possibility. I make a lot of assumptions in my head when I come up with morals and stuff like that. I know killing is bad, but I dont think about or explain all teh reasons why. Its too infinite. The only reason you should ever take another mans life is if he is threatening yours or if its something the person agrees needs to be done. No exceptions. I think its just selfish to do otherwise. The key to achieving ultimate spirituality is reaching a level where you are not selfish at all. A place where you'd be willing to give it all for someone else... Thats kinda how/why I respect military servicemen so much. Its not abotu whetehr or not IRaq is right or wrong. Its about having enough cahones to say "Theres so much out there thats much more valuable then I, and I'm willing to make any sacrifice to protect it."