What value do materialist atheists put on future generations and why?
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I am a "materialistic atheist" and I love what's around me … naturally. I hate people who destroy those natural things. I want to leave this world (and universe) so OTHERS can enjoy (and hopefully, improve) it. Destroying people who do not believe as some think they should, destroying what SOME consider "Gods creation-(s)" is kind of stupid to me also. Future generations should have the freedom to have their OWN beliefs, not have some ancient one driven down their throat ! Their belief should come from FACTS they LEARN, not from facts they MUST learn ('cause some ancient writings say they MUST)! I value this place. I hope future generations have the chance to value it too, even materialistically. 1
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It makes sense to love the world you live in and to want to protect it while you live in it. It also makes sense to empathize with people around you and treat them well, while expecting to be treated well in turn. But I cannot see any cause for you to concern yourself with non-existing future generations in a non-existing future world that will never be known to you. You might as well worry about the prospects of unknown, plausibly existing aliens on some far away planet. It seems to me that acting out of concern for a future that will never exist for you is not unlike acting out of concern for an afterlife. Some of us just appreciate what we have and have had, I guess. It makes sense to wish good things to continue "even after you are gone. You don't wish for your family to continue after you're gone? For them to have a nice world to live in?? Life is not completely about "self". Most people would feel they could leave the world "a better place" when they leave. I do "concern myself" with the world I will never know, as well as the world I DO know. Not giving a damn about what you leave behind, I was taught, is selfishness. I have no idea if there is an "after-life" NONE of us do. I just can't see it as being designated by an ancient myth about a "god" that NEVER SHOWS UP! (Except in that myth). Take the lady that survived the tragic Duck Boat tragedy a few days ago. A media person said she, also, would be dead except for the "grace of God". The other 9 of her family ARE dead "by the grace of God". I can believe and care about what happens to my Earth and universe. I cannot believe in a "god", or IT's afterlife that "graces us" with such cruelty. The kids are dead, the mother is "graced" … with pain and sorrow. If there IS an afterlife, I hope it's "less concerning". I'd rather "worry" about what will happen to the world I loved, and will it be kinder to my kids than "the grace of God". |
