h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well folks here it is, my first rant. I thought I would start with one of my pet peeves. I am a practicing athiest. I enjoy a quiet life of non religious bliss. I try to live a good life. I try to do what is right, and I try not to do what is wrong. I behave this way not because of any promise of a reward, ie. Heaven, or promise of punishment, ie. Hell. When given a choice of doing the right thing, or doing the wrong thing, I try to do the right thing for the reward of KNOWING what I did is right. My gripe is when people tell me that despite this, I am a bad person because I don't believe in God or Allah or any other mythical deity. Someone please tell me why a persons actions can't speak for themselves. Why is it that no matter how good of a person I am, and how good my deeds are, I'm still considered a, "BAD" person. What ever happened to the idea that actions speak louder than words. I personaly am more inclined to measure a persons worth by the actions I am able to observe, than by hearing them tell me that they are a Christian. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, or members of any other religious groups are bad. I just think that people should be judged by what they do, not whether or not they go to church and pray to a god.

Absolutely, people ought to be judged by what they do. And according the Judeo-Christian scheme, they will.

But I notice you mention that you *try* to live a good life, does this mean you do not always succeed?

Living a good life is not as easy as getting up in the morning and going about your day to day routines with blinders on. Around every corner you're going to run into temptations to take the easy road. Or you might find an opportunity to do something that in the moment feels goods, but in the long run does more harm than it is worth. When I say that I am trying to lead a good life, what I am saying is that it is never easy to do the right thing, or to know what the right thing is. It's a constant challenge. And so far, I can say that while I have walked the straight and narrow for the most part, I have stumbled along the way. What makes me think that I am doing O.K., is that even thought I may stumble and from time to time fall, I allways get up, dust myself off, and continue on.

Living a good life is not as easy as getting up in the morning and going about your day to day routines with blinders on. Around every corner you're going to run into temptations to take the easy road. Or you might find an opportunity to do something that in the moment feels good, but in the long run does more harm than it is worth. When I say that I am trying to lead a good life, what I am saying is that it is not allways easy to do the right thing, or to know what the right thing is. It's a constant challenge. And so far, I can say that while I have walked the straight and narrow for the most part, I have stumbled along the way. What makes me think that I am doing O.K., is that even thought I may stumble and from time to time fallen, I allways get up, dust myself off, and continue on.

Something caught my interest in your rant... you say you try to live a good life and the knowing (I believe that was in all capital letters) that it was good was your reward. My question is this: How do you know it is good? Not to attack atheism, but I'm always astonished at how atheists constantly talk about "goodness" where without some being that one understands goodness from there is no goodness. (Unless I misunderstand that whole concept; quite likely! ) Anyway, I was just wondering about your stance on that issue.

(*points at Dan* you! how is it that every forum I go to you're already here? )

It's quite easy to know if your actions are good or bad. If your actions cause harm to another, if your actions cause another person misery, if your actions hurt another person emotionally or physically, your actions are, "bad." If on the other hand your actions bring a little reliefe to someone who is suffering, or if your actions simply allow someone else to smile without causing harm to anyone else, then that is doing good. There need not be a supreme being in the universe to teach people the difference between right and wrong. All that is required is a mother and a father that can teach to their children that all actions have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are positive, and those are the ones that we need to embrace and perpetuate. Other consequences are negative, and the actions that bring these about must be avoided. It's that simple.

(Hey Amy )

No, people don't need a supreme God to tell them what is right and wrong, mentally, they are for the most part able to make the distinction. What they need is to be able to act on this mental knowledge and stop committing the wrong.

What interests me most is that you do not make the claim of being good, instead you prefer to focus on your own experience as "trying" to be good. Metaphorically you can say that as long as you get back on the path of trying to be good, you're all right.

What I interpret this to mean is that even though someone may be acting horribly this month, as long as by next month they realize they're in the wrong and get back on the path, they're OK.

By any definition, this is not good, it is consistently falling short of good. No effort of conscience or will can allow you to be "good", being "wrong" is the human condition, one that the Bible clearly explains.

I never said that I am a good person, what I said is that I try to lead a good life. And according to the bible, can't a person commit all kinds of sins, ask for forgiveness, and then be considered a good person. All of this only because they said, " Oops, I've been a s**t head. I'm sorry." And now they are forgiven. What I try to do is avoid being a s**t head. What I'm saying is that it's is not always easy. It's impossible to be a nice person all the time. There are times when I am forced into being something that I don't like, and unfortunately I do it quite well. When I am Forced into being less than a nice person I feel quite lousy about it. Maybe that's the difference, when I am forced to do things that aren't nice I feel remorse for it. Who knows.

*feels silly because she asked a very question that didn't need answering...*

Me go 'way now... *waves*