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March 30, 2006
Are Atheists More Moral? -- V
The following statement, written when socialism was still (mostly) unborn, has long haunted me. It is from Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov:
"Socialism is not merely the labour question, it is before all things the atheistic question, the question of the form taken by atheism today., the question of the tower of Babel built without God, not to mount to Heaven from earth but to set up Heaven on Earth."
Well okay, socialism is currently (mostly) dead. But what if you substitute "humanism" for it here? Trying to "set up Heaven on Earth" -- however naive, however Utopian -- seems a rather decent goal. Why wait for God to pitch in? Why content yourself with trying to reach an alleged heaven in the sky? But Dostoyevsky, having outgrown (in Siberia) his left-wing phase, is scoffing.
Maybe the great novelist is wrong and the point is that God paralyzes us, making all human efforts at amelioration seem futile, misguided, a diversion.
Or maybe Dostoyevsky is right and the point is that we dreamy, left-wing mortals waste our time trying to build imitation heavens.
Posted by Mitchell Stephens at March 30, 2006 11:59 PM
Comments
Having been involved with an atheist,I can categorically state:No,they are not!This man feels he can get away with the most wretched behavior precisely because he doesn`t think there will be any "reward" for being a decent human being.So there you have it-a theory in action!
Posted by: Lisa at June 25, 2006 4:33 PM
Lisa, would you rather be involved with Ralph Reed or Rush, or (if you swing both ways) Ann Colter? You cannot catagorically state any such thing. One man does not a conclusion about morality make. Get over your bitterness towards this ahole, you may miss the love of your life if he happens not to believe in God.
Posted by: Jay Saul at June 25, 2006 4:52 PM
