Why do you insist on speaking on atheists’ behalf as if you somehow know what it’s like to be one? I have made many sacrifices just like religious people have and none of it was ever done in an attempt to save my Akhirah. I believe there is no reward for it at the end. I do it because that’s what people do! Just like there is evil, there is good with or without religion. It’s a bit naive to assume that atheists cannot rationalize their actions. It’s sad that you think there is no good reason to be altruistic other than religion.
Also, you have better chances of surviving in a herd/pack in the wild. Helping one another helps you survive. This interdependence actually favors survival of the fittest theory! Altruism works better when your survival is threatened. Once you feel secure and have shelter/food, only then you can focus on becoming an individual. Nations that have realized their chances of survival are better if they stick together have indeed outdone themselves. They are united as a nation and yet each of them is a separate individual living his/her life.
altruism is easily explaining via evolution. there are many animals that live in social groups - right from bees and ants upto higher primates. please read more about this, psyah. its fact, not fables.
What made atheists stopped from incest thing.
Lets say incest for time passing rather then for off springs. What stopped them?
simpal. incest leads to loss in genetic diversity. your gene pool becomes a gene spoonful. genetic diversity is the whole basis to evolution, and those who dont invest in diversity lose out. evolution is what makes family members not so attractive to you for breeding, pal.
You have probably not grasped what I am saying … Let’s put it this way … helping others when there is certain doom for oneself … I’m not referring to mutual assistance - that falls short of what I am alluding to … A gesture of charity is not a sacrifice in that sense … A sacrifice - a true sacrifice is to give away something that we NEED ourselves. Not surplus wealth or a bit of free time. I’m not saying there is no good reason to be altruistic other than religion - I am however saying that religion enables us to make those decisions without having rational reasons. If anybody who is an atheist and does indeed do altruistic acts - then they will be acting outside rational limits … They will be operating from a nature that cannot be explained by evolution and will appear to be a malfunction.
Those atheists who can be totally philanthropic or charitable (for no personal gain in this world) - without letting a single soul know of their deed then such people need to ask themselves what is it that drives them to make such action? Surely, such motive can only be explained by the presence of a Creator Who put that in us … a Creator who some deny.
The religious do good work for one reason only…for a reward in the supposed after life. That’s called selfishness..not selflessness! People who die helping others, like Doctors without Borders, knowing full well this is it…no heaven..no hell…that’s selflessness! It’s high time people realize that death is death…no virgins…no pearly gates…no becoming one with the maha athmav..it’s over, maybe then we can cease with the endless violence the faithful perpetrate on everyone for not believing in their version of the one true god!
Mazeed behas karne ka kya faida when they feel a sense of fakhar in their disbelief? One can argue, but not to a point that it becomes exhausting. You see, these selfless/humble people are so certain of the non-existence of an afterworld as though they themselves are not only the creators of the world as they currently know it, but are also the ones controlling and maintaining the nizaam of this duniya/kainaat. That brand of confidence only comes when you believe yourself to be an originator and wholly in charge and completely capable. It's akin to the analogy of an inventor who creates something of the likes which cannot be and has not been replicated on the same scale by anyone else. Therefore the inventor would know best if he can recreate it and since he managed it beautifully the first time around, it is not unreasonable to believe that he is capable of doing it again. However, the ones enjoying the fruits of his invention, who had no role in its creation and who try to explain it through various "conjectures," are surprisingly so unshakably certain that it cannot be created again.
In addition to my questions … @kprasad again I’m not saying atheists cannot be charitable … I’m saying if they do act so - out of what capacity are they doing this? It makes no sense for them to be making any sacrifices - they should be making the optimal gains according to the design of life.
The argument of benefit in an afterlife is a non-argument … Because all of these acts done by people who do so to please God regardless of a reward are also included among the religious people. And the reward in the afterlife for those who do it for that reason are doing so out of faith. There is no immediate reward.
The point I was making is not about helping others … but to do so at the detriment of oneself …
This is something that religious people of all stripes cannot fathom: Being kind solely for the purpose of being kind.
Don’t blame atheists because you lack and cannot understand empathy.
Hogwash! Doing something for a reward, no matter how long the cash in time, is still selfish. Religious people have no reason to live. Their whole life revolves around being dead and the supposed paradise that comes after.
To your point, the religious only do it for their reward. They don’t believe it’s in their detriment as it will take them to their deity and their reward! That’s not a noble trait!
But to the point of this thread:
More than 5 million kids dies before the age of 5 from treatable communicable diseases. Do you think this is because their mothers aren’t praying hard enough? Why don’t the god(s) listen to their prayers?
Why do god(s) hate poor people? What prayers should they do that they are not? Do you think they just need to pray more?
Why do god(s) hate most the people that pray to them the most? Why are the most religious the most ill-educated, most impoverished, and of ill-health?
Recently, a young girl was brutally gang raped in a Delhi bus. Do you think she didn’t pray enough for a god to stop it? Do you think she wasn’t praying to the right god? Why didn’t the loving deity care about her?
If your deity only does what he/she wants anyway, why pray at all? What’s the point?
You have probably not grasped what I am saying ... Let's put it this way ... helping others when there is certain doom for oneself ... I'm not referring to mutual assistance - that falls short of what I am alluding to ... A gesture of charity is not a sacrifice in that sense ... A sacrifice - a true sacrifice is to give away something that we NEED ourselves. Not surplus wealth or a bit of free time. I'm not saying there is no good reason to be altruistic other than religion - I am however saying that religion enables us to make those decisions without having rational reasons. If anybody who is an atheist and does indeed do altruistic acts - then they will be acting outside rational limits ... They will be operating from a nature that cannot be explained by evolution and will appear to be a malfunction.
Those atheists who can be totally philanthropic or charitable (for no personal gain in this world) - without letting a single soul know of their deed then such people need to ask themselves what is it that drives them to make such action? Surely, such motive can only be explained by the presence of a Creator Who put that in us ... a Creator who some deny.
how did you assume that I was talking about charity? What I meant by sacrifice is exactly what you said. If I meant charity, I would say so. You don't think people can be charitable without a driving factor and that is your opinion. Some people just give and don't really think why they should. There are millions of selfless people out there who don't need a reason to give and they don't spend any time thinking about the reasons and rewards. Believe it or not. Again, it is your opinion that motive must be there.
Why do you insist on speaking on atheists’ behalf as if you somehow know what it’s like to be one? I have made many sacrifices just like religious people have and none of it was ever done in an attempt to save my Akhirah. I believe there is no reward for it at the end. I do it because that’s what people do! Just like there is evil, there is good with or without religion. It’s a bit naive to assume that atheists cannot rationalize their actions. It’s sad that you think there is no good reason to be altruistic other than religion.