In Reply to: Re: Atheists and acts of kindness.. posted by kinda gentler on August 19, 2004 at 22:31:43:
my first try got absorbed into the meaninglessness of cyberspace, so i'll try again..
i agree w/ you 100% that there are many kind pepole to be found in all persuasions, and that being "christian" or "religious" is certainly no gaurantee of kindness. jesus' parable of the good samaritan illustrated this perfectly. i am not attacking atheists, communists, or believers or nonbelievers of any stripe. my point is simply that if one really veiws existence as "meaningless" or reduces it to random matter, that it really doesn't provide a logical underpinning for altruism or acts of sacrificial kindness. i think it was sartre or camus who faced this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, that if existence is indeed meaningless that all that remained was the question of whether or not to commit suicide. (altho i don't think either did..)
in fact i do believe we are all (w/ perhaps a few sad exceptions) hardwired w/ a basic sense of right and wrong. to me this is in fact something of a clue that there is indeed design to life. and if design offers such clues, than seeking to line up w/ that design is natural. and if we are offered clues, perhaps these serve as an invitation to seek contact w/ the designer. how one goes about that is another discussion, but in the question of meaning verses meaninglessness, i do not see how meaningless random molecular interactions logically leads to acts of kindness. i think these spring from an internal recognituion that there is meaning, and therefore actions do matter, and kindness is a response to this. imo.
jeepers, tho, reading your stories from the family make me feel that your getting it back together is a bit of a miracle itself, if you don't mind me saying so. blessings.