Ethics ....A world where God does not exist!!!!!

[zenithSmil3]

Are curse words frowned upon because of morality? I thought it might just be for the reason 'obnoxious behaviour'. But if they weren't so frowned upon, would people still use them so extensively? Because they are curse words and what is the point of swearing if nobody really has any reaction to it?

It is interesting to note however, that profanity is actually a word used to describe items not belonging to the church in which case, you are quite right about it being a control mechanism... "Oh my God" is still considered insulting to some apparently which I learned through personal experience.

I say its a curse word because it is 'morally wrong' than it is 'morally wrong' because its a curse word.

I don't think that answered your question...

[Possumdude0]

Even taking it from a Biblical standpoint doesn't work as the Bible only talks about keeping yourself clean and taking God's name in vain. So by that standard, Damn, Hell, Shit, etc... are all perfectly legitimate words. Yet, Christians frown upon them and I can't understand why other than that it's a control mechanism.

We do it because we fucking can.

I don't have anything against cussing. Personally, I try not to, simply because it is frowned upon as improper and coarse behavior, but I don't look down on the people who do it regularly, and I don't feel overly guilty for doing it myself.

Taking God's name in vain is one thing that I don't do, and it can be somewhat offensive to me. But I try not to call people on it too much. I do have a problem with the hipocrasy of non-religious people using God's name, but that has nothing to do with whether or not they used it in vain.


As for whether or not people are born with ethics, I can't really get into that larger discussion without bringing God into it, so I won't try.

[Ezekiel1z]

Maybe I can supply a few answers for that last comment. As a Christian, I refrain from using Damn and Hell, not because they are a series of syllables meant to insult, but because of what they mean. When someone uses damn, they are literally damning it(him/her) to Hell, a place that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. As for morals and virtues, most, most if not all, are inherent. Look at the Native Americans and the Europeans. They were separated for thousands of years, and yet they both still had the same basic values. Some of the social graces might have been different, but overall they knew that murder, adultery, theft, and hate were bad. I am probably going to get flamed for this, but I thought I should speak my piece.

[Tentra]

Look at the Native Americans and the Europeans. They were separated for thousands of years, and yet they both still had the same basic values. Some of the social graces might have been different, but overall they knew that murder, adultery, theft, and hate were bad.

That's a thought provoking statement. However, I believe that humans are innately dumb and can be shown that any action is "good" or "bad". However when religion is brought into the picture it could influence these dumb creatures morals by making them consider how their actions could influence others.

I believe religion is just a way for layman to have a reason for certain things happening and to explain things he doesn't understand. Since humanity has made much progress in various scientific fields I believe most religion will be eradicated in the next few centuries, with only remnants of today's morals and ethics surviving. Thus in the future most people will be selfish and uncaring about others desires and emotions.

I'm sorry if this seems vague, I was trying to not to stray off topic.

[The7thGuest]

Look at the Native Americans and the Europeans. They were separated for thousands of years, and yet they both still had the same basic values. Some of the social graces might have been different, but overall they knew that murder, adultery, theft, and hate were bad.

That's a thought provoking statement. However, I believe that humans are innately dumb and can be shown that any action is "good" or "bad". However when religion is brought into the picture it could influence these dumb creatures morals by making them consider how their actions could influence others.

I believe religion is just a way for layman to have a reason for certain things happening and to explain things he doesn't understand. Since humanity has made much progress in various scientific fields I believe most religion will be eradicated in the next few centuries, with only remnants of today's morals and ethics surviving. Thus in the future most people will be selfish and uncaring about others desires and emotions.

I'm sorry if this seems vague, I was trying to not to stray off topic.

I find this quite interesting, in my honest opinion no scientific discovery would ever "eradicate" religion, for those who believe no evidence is needed and for those who don't, no evidence is enough.

Leave that as it may, I don't think I've heard of any actual "evidence" to discredit any of the surviving religions, I mean there has been a good number of religions which has kinda been "eradicated" but I don't recall any religion being totally discredited by science in the last 100 years? Do you have anything that points out the contrary to my statement?

I have to admit I would love to be wrong about this, I hate the fact that my answer points towards all religions hanging around for, atleast the foreseeable future, but in my honest opinoin whether I like this answer or not, it is the correct answer.

[Tentra]

Leave that as it may, I don't think I've heard of any actual "evidence" to discredit any of the surviving religions, I mean there has been a good number of religions which has kinda been "eradicated" but I don't recall any religion being totally discredited by science in the last 100 years? Do you have anything that points out the contrary to my statement?

I'm not talking about one single discovery that will disprove all religions. For example, it used to be an accepted thought that the world was flat. And the church agreed and said that this is undeniable fact. When a few philosophers said the world is round, that went against, and discredited the church. Around that time the Protestant reformation happened, because they realized the church was not always right, and believed many of the Catholic churches documents to be wrong.

Look at the native Americans, they did dances and performed human sacrifice to please the gods so they would have a good harvest. If you saw someone doing such a thing today you would explain that rain is caused by water evaporating into a vapor then liquefying and falling to the ground, not because the gods are pleased.

In time most "miracles", or "acts of God" will be able to be explained scientifically. Leaving no credible proof that a supreme being exists.

[The7thGuest]

Leave that as it may, I don't think I've heard of any actual "evidence" to discredit any of the surviving religions, I mean there has been a good number of religions which has kinda been "eradicated" but I don't recall any religion being totally discredited by science in the last 100 years? Do you have anything that points out the contrary to my statement?

I'm not talking about one single discovery that will disprove all religions. For example, it used to be an accepted thought that the world was flat. And the church agreed and said that this is undeniable fact. When a few philosophers said the world is round, that went against, and discredited the church. Around that time the Protestant reformation happened, because they realized the church was not always right, and believed many of the Catholic churches documents to be wrong.

Look at the native Americans, they did dances and performed human sacrifice to please the gods so they would have a good harvest. If you saw someone doing such a thing today you would explain that rain is caused by water evaporating into a vapor then liquefying and falling to the ground, not because the gods are pleased.

In time most "miracles", or "acts of God" will be able to be explained scientifically. Leaving no credible proof that a supreme being exists.

I'm pretty sure all those discoveries are older than 100 years.

In time most "miracles", or "acts of God" will be able to be explained scientifically. Leaving no credible proof that a supreme being exists.

I think the statistics for the last 200 years, not to mention the last 100, are really strongly against that statement. In my opinion we'll see the end of the world before science explains everything, they can't even explain a curve ball, all the laws of physics is against it.

[IncandescentLight]

Really? Two hundred years ago having a fatal illness would mean being possessed by the devil but that has changed a lot now... Science, with time, shall make its discoveries.

[insomaniacal]

Uh, scientists can't explain a curveball?

http://library.thinkquest.org/11902/physics/curve2.html
^
Seems correct to me.

[Tentra]

How much will a baseball curve?
The equation is as follows (from Prof. Adair's book Physics of Baseball):
FMagnus Force = KwVCv
where:

• FMagnus Force is the Magnus Force
• K is the Magnus Coefficient
• w is the spin frequency measured in rpm
• V is the velocity of the ball in mph
• Cv is the drag coefficient