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Originally Posted by cardboard adolescent
why is it better that we all live together in an organized, peaceful fashion? the only reason is that we fear the alternative, that we fear chaos and the possibility for our own destruction. so then morality is based on fear, the fear that if we abandon it society will collapse. but for society to collapse every member of society would have to abandon morality, and since most people cling to it desperately that's not likely to happen.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cardboard adolescent
I'm not trying to prove that this concept of God is real, that would be completely absurd. I'm just arguing it is necessary for morality.
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While I agree with you for the most part, I have one question. Since we have society, and since for the most part it benefits us to treat others well in society, do we really need the idea of a God for morality? Isn't society enough for that? If we had no form of religion, but still had society, we would still have the same morality without any of the negative "moral" views of our major religions? Society obviously isn't perfect, and it can be seen as morally right or acceptable for some obviously wrong things (Historical examples include slavery, treatment of women as second class citizens, racism in general, etc.), but for the most part, society has improved vastly in what can be seen as right and the most beneficial to humanity in general and benefits people and makes the ease of life easier, while religion has only made small steps in such things. So couldn't society based morality be seen as being better than religion based morality? I realize that certain concepts were created by religious ideas (hospitals, feeding the poor, etc.), but if we fully incorporate the better aspects of religion based morality into our society, which we have for the most part (at least in the society I live in and am familiar with, I realize that it is not same everywhere else in the world), why can't we just abandon the bad(anti ***, hatred towards other of different faiths, etc) and useless parts (church attendance, not being able to consume certain foods, etc) of religion?
Also, if there is no instilled morality in people, why do people tend to, for the most part, avoid killing even in situations where it would be beneficial for them to do so or have nothing stopping them other than their own personal convictions? Why do people feel empathy towards others when they don't receive any benefits form it other than feeling good about it? I did not have any moral ideas instilled in me by my parents at a young age, and I have no religious convictions, but I feel empathy towards others even when it does not benefit me in any way to do so, society does not reward me for it, and even when the person has done something harmful towards me? I personally feel that we are genetically inclined towards empathy and "morality" as it benefits us to feel empathy everyone if we don't harm each other.
I'm sorry if any of this has already been stated, I attempted to read every post but I may have accidentally skipped a few. Sorry if my post is confusing in any way, I'm really tired at the moment.