What code of conduct do "atheists" live by?

by The Berean 105 Replies latest jw friends

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  quietlyleaving

  the berean

  Hypothetical: You work for a credit card company who imposes a $39 late charge for all payments recieved as little as one day after the 15th of the month. During any given work shift you process a couple of thousand envelopes with payments included. On one particular 15th your supervisor tells you to ignor the mail for that day and assigns you to another task. This action increases revenue for the company as well as compounding the debt of the clients who have been informed in the "fine print" that "the firm cannot be responsible for delays in the mail." Is anyone guilty of stealing?

  hmm...I'm not sure but I think your hypothetical situation has more to do with ethics and nicely illustrates the difference between ethics and morals.
• 

  caliber

  "I guess I am struggling to figure out what you are driving at?

  I believe we all follow a basic

  code of conduct..... the debate goes endlessly on as to it's source ! Then the above

  added twist of ethics versus morals further clouds the issue into complex debate .

  When are you responsible , when are you excused ?
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  The Berean

  quietlyleaving:

  Maybe my thought here is that ethics and morals can be evaluated by "what the law will allow" in any given society.
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  AllTimeJeff

  This all sounds very reasonable to me. The source is at best, what one perceives it to be. What that source actually is cannot be stated with any certainty.
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  Satanus

  'code of conduct..... the debate goes endlessly on as to it's source !'

  It's simply something that provides an advantage in the societal environment. It helps civilization. It's part of the evolution paradigm. Just compare the mess in some human populations, such as high crime areas in africa w highly advanced societies such as japan.

  If you claim your god as the source, the lack actions that follow moralistic principle in processes that go on in the universe kind shoots down your claim as he being the author. The processes that create and destroy stars, for instance, show no evidence of morals. Rather, they show similar patterns as do predator prey animal relationships, and criminals who prey on others, civilazations that wipe out other civilizations, etc.

  S
• 

  The Berean

  Jeff:

  In my fantasyland, I would like to blend all perspectives, points of view, and preferences and orchestrate an existence in which EVERYONE could live with and flourish under... giving each their earned "props" and making choices for the whole on the basis of composite wisdom gathered during a process of "equal involvement."

  I'll be in a sanitarium soon, won't I? ...
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  AllTimeJeff

  Berean

  lol.... You won't be in a sanitarium unless you get really serious about trying! :)

  I have similar aspirations, with more of a nod to non-superstitious frames of reference.... Who knows, at the end of the day, we can only behave in a manner we wish other people to be....
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  caliber

  I must say what a beautiful completion to this thread.. in the end each can have his say yet look to the future with

  hope that we all can come together in some fashion one day for the common good of each other !

  Love-Light-Peace-Hope

  Caliber
• 

  quietlyleaving

  Interestingly evolutionary pshychology shows that natural selection favours difference but also shows that our brains are structured to obey our ancestors by default. For example our phobias are governed by what scared our ancestors the most and that were a real danger to them and not by what scares us the most in present life and that are a real danger to us.

  To me this shows that in order to make use of our ancestral heritage (and not allow them to be seen as transcendent codes and rules from a higher source) it is important to acknowlege the need for individual flexibility and autonomy where we can. For instance humans have evolved brains that alllow us to be self conscious and imaginative which confers many adaptive advantages to raising children in our own particularly human way for example. Fixing moral codes and endeavouring to see them enforced universally works against learning abilities and advantages. It is better to allow for groups to work with their own ethics in their own interaction with their own environment to utilise resources and wisdom thus conferred.

  The good news is that evolutionary psychology show that the majority of people although seeking individuality do not deliberately endanger group survival. A few do and of course this necessitates overarching rules and regulations but as has been said these can be reached by consensus.
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  Narkissos

  For some reason it reminds me of the awesome scene toward the end of Fellini's movie 8 1/2, where the protagonist's daydreaming of 'being completely truthful and not hurting anybody' introduces the fantasy dream of all the women of his life (mother, servants, wife, mistresses) living together, welcoming him home, bathing him and carrying him like a child; he brings them gifts and they are happy, they pretend to rebel and he whips them, and they all applaud him in the end, gracefully climbing the stairs of oblivion when he feels it's time... (too bad I can't find it on Youtube :))

  The infinite excess of desire over reality is what makes fiction (of which religion is perhaps the oldest form) absolutely vital to everyone of us imo.