Good will to all men? Not from the grumpy atheists! (Thank God not all atheists are grumpy but there sure seems to be a lot of them)
Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...
Might one better ask, given the state of the community of Catholic men's religious, can we be good even with God. I am convinced that I am doing better than them and according to their lights am excommunicated and heretic. I am convinced I am the better for all that makes me thus.
ReplyDelete"Humans might be able to live pursue a noble and tasteful and even an altruistic life without God, but why should they? What’s the point? Without God the only point of human goodness must be utilitarian."
ReplyDeleteWithout God the only purpose of human goodness is other people.
The author is correct in his critique of utilitarianism, but he seems unaware of other moral resources available to atheists: Kantian ethics and humanism.
ReplyDeleteA Kantian would say that being a person of integrity is worth seeking for its own sake, that virtue is its own reward.
A humanist would say that humans are indeed of inherent value, but for reasons that exclude the supernatural.
No, the specific goodness which Christians can attain consists of the supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity. There is also the help that grace gives us to live a life of virtue. Whether and to what extent we make use of that help is another matter.