Subject:
|
Re: Will Libertopia cause the needy to get less?
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.off-topic.debate
|
Date:
|
Sun, 3 Dec 2000 18:55:18 GMT
|
Viewed:
|
899 times
|
| |
|
|
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal writes:
> > > I don't understand how "altruism in animals" is different than an instinct • of
> > > cooperation, compromise, etc. I guess I'm saying that I think only • sentient
> > > beings who have free will are *able* to be altruistic.
> >
> > I likewise don't understand how "altruism" in sentient beings is different
> > from an instinct of cooperation, compromise, etc.,
>
> Well, wouldn't instincts of altruism *always* be obeyed? Certainly altruism • in
> sentient beings is random at best.
Altruism could be an instinct in a sentient being. And instincts aren't
universally followed. Why do you folks insist on pretending that we're
so different from the rest of the beasts? <...here we go again...:->
> > > God acts in the world through His people. If I as a Christian give to a
> > > charity, then that charity has been blessed by God (through me).
> >
> > If you as a Christian, in a fit of pique, cut someone off in traffic, is
> > that discourtesy likewise God's doing? Or does God only get props for good
> > deeds? (that's rhetorical; I know the answer.)
>
> lol This reminds me of a story a friend told me.
That was a _very_ funny story. OTOH, unlike Dave (I think...I'm losing track),
I don't know the actual answer. If God gets kudos when you do good, does he
catch flack when you do bad? If not, why not?
> A Christian does good in response to God's love. God loved us first and our
> response is to reflect that love as best we can to others in our daily lives.
> That is why Christians do good. Why an atheist does is beyond me, but if
> anyone knows, please do tell.
Ooh. Ooh. I know! We all do good for the same reason. Because it makes us
feel good.
> > And I was speaking literally as if there weren't a God. With or without
> > Him, there is no evidence that we are self-dooming.
>
> Holocaust, to take one of your examples. How can "civilized" people can allow
> that to happen; to participate, and to allow themselves to be convinced that
> it was justified?
Wait! You can't have it both ways, can you? You (or someone) asserted that it
was the lack of God that would cause the doom. Then you said it was a
hypothetical idea since there is a God, implying that we're not so doomed. But
now you're pointing to an example of a real-life event to prove that we are
self-dooming. So was God on vacation during the Holocaust or what? It seems
from your argument that it was His job to prevent that kind of stuff.
> A Jew is a Jew by lineage, but also one whose God is YHWH of the Torah. They
Well my wife is a Jew because her mother was a Jew because her mother was a
Jew, etc. But it has been at least that many generations since any of them
sucked up to Yahweh. So is my wife a Jew or not?
And I thought you guys were talking about the almost prehistoric Jews anyway
who were all Jews, but really were different societies and even somewhat
ethnicities. Was it the history of Babylon or Sumeria where I would have
picked up that impression?
Chris
|
|
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Will Libertopia cause the needy to get less?
|
| (...) Well, wouldn't instincts of altruism *always* be obeyed? Certainly altruism in sentient beings is random at best. (...) lol This reminds me of a story a friend told me. His dad was driving and came up to a stop light behind a car that had a (...) (24 years ago, 30-Nov-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
|
231 Messages in This Thread:
(Inline display suppressed due to large size. Click Dots below to view.)
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
