kazadoom said:
totalwar23 said:
kazadoom said:
totalwar23 said:
kazadoom said:
If all we do is die and that is it, then why were we born with a conscience? Why is there something in us that gives us the ability to determine right from wrong? How does something like that just appear? Don't bother with saying it was just taught to us, because if that is the case, then who taught those who taught us, and so on. The ability to know right and wrong sets us apart from all other beings, so why do we have it? |
Except for the fact that right and wrong differs from group to group and is determined by the majority of that group. But if you're asking questions, I might as wel, too. The human race, homo sapiens is how old? I don't know, maybe about of couple of ten of thousands of year and that's not including the other homo species that came an went before us. The earth is 4.5 billion years old. How come it took so damn long for us to emerge? |
I agree that there are different rights and wrongs for people, but there are an inherent number of those right and wrongs that are found in everyone. Lying, Stealing, Murder, Hate, Adultery. We are born with these things. Do you have kids? Well, no one had to teach my daughter to lie, and for that matter to run and hide when she did because she knew it was wrong without even having to tell her. It is born in us. |
You're looking at those standards today. Not to mention I can't count how many times people lie and say "that's all right, it's just a white lie, it doesn't hurt anyone." You can also find cases of people stealing, killing, (hate? we all do it), and cheating without any sign of guilt. Just look in prisons across the world. But you're aiming for the majority, right? Well, lets go way back when slavery wasn't a sin. They were just considered property. They could be killed, raped, or beaten by their owners and no one would care. Or death duels, where no crimes were committed even if someone died. Or Viking raiders that loot and kill and they would just sail away celebrating their success. Where were their conscience? They were all born with those inherent things. They couldn't tell it was wrong for them to do it? |
Just because there are people that ignore their conscience does not prove that they do not have one. You pointing these things out proves that you have one. Where did yours come from? You are telling me that these people did not know what they were doing was wrong? How can you say that or even prove it? People do wrong because we have the freedom to chose to do so, not because they do have a conscience. If no one has a conscience, then where did our laws come from, who decided one day to determine what was right and wrong and how did he even know? |
I do have a conscience but my conscience was shaped in the society that I grew up in. You're trying to prove, nay assert without proving that we are all just born with the same generic beliefs. Take slavery, again. Southerners believed there was nothing wrong with the slaves that they owned and even used passages from the Bible saying that God supported slavery. Take Roman slavery, you think they gave a crap about their slaves? It wasn't in their conscience that beating or killing slaves was wrong because they grew up in a society where it was the norm. Just like Vikings, their ancestors did it before them and their doing it now with their comrades in arms. In their society, it was what you're suppose to do so how could what they were doing was wrong? They did have a conscience, but it was restricted to what their own group thought what was right or wrong. I seem to remember the Pope telling his followers to go into the Holy land and expelled the "Saracens". Those Crusaders went in killing people and thinking they were going to heaven for doing it. You think in their conscience, they thought it was wrong? Now about those laws-no one ever created some final set of laws from day one. New laws get created over time, exisiting laws get more complex or repealed according to the society or state. It just as I said, if you killed a free man, you've committed murder. If you killed a slave, you've destroyed property. Now, would that law be acceptable today? Btw, is there proof for heaven?
