update on no good atheists

[MsRobyn]

I have a problem with the notion that people only do good works because God expects it of them.

How about doing good works because it’s the right thing to do?

Robin

[Pabitel]

*Originally posted by zimmdogg *
**As far as what faith you intend to follow, it is your choice. All faiths believe that their way is the way to salvation. **

I’m sorry but that is an overbroad generalization. Only a religion that includes the fall of man has salvation as its goal. There are very many faiths that don’t see man as lost and in need of being salvaged.

[cart]

*Originally posted by sirtonyh *
**He’s donated several billion dollars to charity (primarily in the healthcare and arts fields I think). That qualifies as good in my opinion **

But don’t these donations mainly consist of Microsoft software? So they cost him virtually nothing, yet he can use the market value of the products to make the donations seem huge - and doubtless to get himself a huge tax rebate. He also gets to strengthen his monopoly and improve his public image. I don’t think there’s a great deal of altruism in his actions.

[Aro]

For cart,

I posted about Bill Gates in Vanillas original thread (here)

Here is the article I linked to originally about his donations to date

…Gates, now worth more than $75 billion, has committed $17 billion to charity in past few years;

[MsRobyn]

*Originally posted by cart *
**But don’t these donations mainly consist of Microsoft software? So they cost him virtually nothing, yet he can use the market value of the products to make the donations seem huge - and doubtless to get himself a huge tax rebate. He also gets to strengthen his monopoly and improve his public image. I don’t think there’s a great deal of altruism in his actions. **

Uh, no. The Gates family is the benefactor of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds health research, among other things. It’s endowed with approximately $24 billion.

Robin

[Algernon]

Interesting that I should come across this thread today. Earlier today I had an exchange with Libertarian in the Great Debate thread: Polycarp on biblical literalism, which may be of interest to the readers of this thread.

Libertarian: Things are bad enough with so many people obstructing goodness so much of the time. If there were no goodness facilitated at all, I shudder to imagine the moral chaos. There would be no charity at all; there would be only the warm and fuzzy feelings brought about by doing whatever is necessary to rise to the top.

Algernon: Can you help me understand what leads you to this perspective? I’m not convinced that one needs to have goodness facilitated. From my personal perspective, the goodness that I attempt to display is internally motivated.

Libertarian: With respect to goodness and its facilitation, you are right that it comes from within you. Jesus Himself teaches, “The kingdom of heaven is within you.” That which is in you that values goodness is spiritual. Metaphysical. The goodness that is within you comes from your heart, where you are created in the image and likeness of God. It is by love that you express goodness so that a hungry man is fed, or a naked man is clothed, or a lonely man is visited. Whenever goodness flows from you to another moral agent, recall this discussion so that you will know that it is the conduit through which that goodness flows that I worship and call God. Or love.