I also think that kind of mentality doesn’t work for most scenarios. Everything is subjective based on context. If you killed someone who was trying to rob you should you be persecuted the same way as someone who killed someone because he was robbing them? Of course not.
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My God doesn’t exist yet.
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Yahweh. http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/04/drunk-with-blood-gods-killings-in-bible.html
Do you want to know my real stance on abortion? It’s very complicated. I believe that immortality comes from a lack of foresight. I also believe that good foresight comes from good hindsight. My point is: if there was a crystal ball that could show you both possibilities, with abortion or any other decision, you would take the option that did the most good, would you not? And that’s how I base my morality. People cannot look into a crystal ball and know exactly what is going to happen - but if they sincerely believe that aborting their fetus would outweigh the cost of the life, then yes, the abortion should occur.
I’ll give you two examples using the same person.
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Girl gets knocked up at 18. She can’t afford to raise the baby and go to college at the same time. She works as a waitress for most of her life as a single mother and lives in a poor neighborhood.
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Same girl gets knocked up at 18. She gets an abortion. She goes to college, get’s a bachelor’s degree, and meets her significant other while writing her thesis for her master’s. They both get high paying jobs, live in an upscale neighborhood, and have three children together.
Option two sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?
Consider option 3.
- Same girl gets knocked up at 18. She takes a year off to live with her parents as she gives childbirth. She sends it to an abortion agency and go through the process for an open adoption. After birth, she goes to college, get’s a bachelor’s degree … and you know the rest.
There’s roughly 4 million child births every year and 500 thousand abortions. Of course there are going to be times where having a child - even for nine months - is stressful for the mother. Being adopted isn’t easy either. There really isn’t a correct solution to this.
… I went from completely pro-life to almost completely pro-choice in the matter of a few posts…
Again, you are right. I don’t have a magic eight ball that actually works. I can’t tell you if something is objectively right or wrong, because again, it’s all about context. Why do you keep trying to make me look bad? I keep agreeing with your assessments. Look at the shit that PewDiePie had to go through because people took him out of context.
In fact, I will go one step further - there’s a lot of people who believe that human existence is harmful to the planet, and they want us - you and I - to commit suicide so we can save it. If humans never existed, and there wasn’t malls, streets, and stores everywhere, how many plants, trees and wildlife would exist right now because of that? We’re a self-interested species. But I see the value in chopping trees down to build houses. I see value in malls, stores, and streets. They give us goods and help us survive. Who is right on their assessment? Nobody! Because we solely give value to things ourselves.
Religion’s biggest factor of “how well it works” is demonstrated by how the person behaves in accordance to the values of his or her church. Christians that bomb abortion clinics and tells everybody that “God hates fags” probably shouldn’t be Christian. But Christians that give back, go on mission trips and build schools, and give people comfort for the departed are pretty good Christians I.M.P.O.V. But this can be attributed to anything. If meditating helps you, you should meditate. If planting trees helps you, you should plant trees. Do what makes you happy as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. (Isn’t that a Libertarian ideal?)
And there are going to be conflicts. Imagine if you may, I win the lottery. 100 Million. And I decide to spend half of it right away. I get a nice house, etc. 25 Million goes to stock in Berkshire Hathaway. The rest I save for later. I marry someone, and have two kids. Then, when I’m about to die, I decide to take my remaining money and put it into a trust fund for MYSELF and give my children no money in my Will. Do you think they would be fine with that? Of course not.
There’s always going to be conflicts, until we can accurately predict the future. Imagine, in the future, the money I saved helps me come back to life quicker, but then after another hundred years or so money becomes obsolete - and everybody is resurrected and saving the money was utterly a waste of time (and money)!
The only way objective morality can exist is if someone knows the best way to get the best possible outcome every time. That isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Are you familiar with eschatology? I made a question for my religious quiz based on it. I did some research and discovered that many eastern religions paint a bleak future for their religions - many bad things will happen according to them. Everybody will “fall” to the disease of other faiths. On the other hand, Judaism, Rastafarianism, Baha’i, Christianity, and Islam all essentially have the same views - everybody will become one of them, and all we be saved and reconciled.
I see three possible outcomes for religion in general.
(1) Everybody will believe the same thing because it has been proven fact.
(2) Everybody will believe in many different religions because thoughts become disperse.
or
(3) Religion will become synonymous with mythology and nobody will have a religion.
If 1 happens, less conflicts happens. If 2 happens, more conflicts happen. And if 3 happens, less conflicts happen. I think currently 2 and 3 are happening at the same time, although I think 3 will edge out. In the larger scheme though, I think religious faith will be replaced with scientific theories. The very nature of reality will be hotly debated amongst the brightest minds, and it’s already happening. Most scientists believe in the theory of evolution - but the little things regarding it are still debated. If 3 happens then 4 will happen too…
(4) Scientific inquiry will splinter and many people will have their own opinions regarding nature and fate.
And if this happens, more conflicts will ensue.
There’s a reason why some people will pay a lot to get their fortune read to them.