The Decisions We Make

The Decisions We Make

Firstly, let me start of by telling you that this will be the general trend in my posts - right now, I've had to make a very difficult decision, and it has launched my mind into an avenue of thought I have hardly explored. That's what (generally) entices me to create a new post on this blog.

The decisions we make in life are often far too complicated to be clean cut, regardless of race, religion or creed. In the case of an atheist, what would have been religious boundaries are removed from your decision making process.

How would this affect the outcome of those decisions? For example, I had a very interesting conversation about a classical moral dilemma: If you were presented with the opportunity to kill Hitler, would you? I know I would. I don't have the fear of being reprimanded in the afterlife. Morally, however, would that be considered right or wrong? If it is considered wrong, does it really matter, considering the consequence would be to save millions of lives (theoretically, of course)?

That particular discussion spiraled into several different avenues, which eventually converged in the same place - that even if I had ''killed'' Hitler, that might not have changed a damn thing. It might even have made things worse - but I digress.

My point is that as an atheist the general ''Laws of Religion'' that prevent you from taking life do not apply to me. This doesn't mean that I have no morals - I still believe the taking of life is tragic, unless it is for a reason which logically makes sense. Someone is going to kill me, unless I kill them first. If I end that serial killer's life, I'll save the life of a few dozen people. That sort of thinking might be dangerous, but it remains logical.

A ''True Christian'' - note the apostrophes - should be incapable of taking another human being's life.

When considering more basic decision making, everyday stuff, the impact of this kind of thinking seems even greater in my opinion. As Hugh Laurie so truly stated: ''Everybody lies''. This is possibly a universal and whole truth. As an atheist, I feel bad about lying to benefit myself, but I still do it. Theists will do the same, and barring Satanism, usually not only feel bad, but most likely carry some form of religiously inclined guilt around with them until Sunday - or confession, or whatever other mechanism their church and religion has created to rid themselves of said guilt.

At the end of the day, Christians lie and it is considered a sin. An atheist lies, and to us, it considered just what it's meant to be: a lie, nothing more, nothing less - which, to me, makes absolute sense.

What do you think? Can you think of any examples where you've had to make a decision that was either influenced by being an atheist, or that may have been different had you been a theist?


I leave you with that thought, and the following quote,

''It is an interesting and demonstrable fact, that all children are atheists and were religion not inculcated into their minds, they would remain so.''


- Ernestine Rose, Prominent Atheist Feminist, 1810 - 1892