# Why don't Atheists Pillage the Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 22, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457 "2009-01-22T14:49:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/1 "2009-01-22T14:49:38Z")
Ok, [I know some of them do](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=502949), but most don’t. Most also do not rape dumb blondes in sorority houses, grab toys out of children’s hands in the park, fire shotguns through their neighbors’ windows, or even masturbate while eating decayed flesh from fresh graves. It seems to me that if there is no vengeful god to worry about, why are more Atheists not getting everything they can while they can? I understand to some, morality is a means for society to survive, but why not capitalize on the weaknesses and misfortunes of others to create some weatlh for themselves? 5-Star General of the Army Liberal ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/2 "2009-01-22T14:51:53Z")
We’re afraid of what our mothers would say. Once we implement our agenda and ensure that all future babies will be grown in test-tubes, we’ll make with the pillaging. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/3 "2009-01-22T14:54:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > We’re afraid of what our mothers would say. I’m no longer afraid of my mother (she died many years ago), but I am afraid of what my wife and children might say. In addition, I value the opinions of my friends, and suspect that they might find rape and pillage distasteful. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/4 "2009-01-22T14:59:01Z")
Once you start raping and pillaging sorority blondes, everyone wants to get in on the act. That’s just not conducive to public order, which even atheists can see some value in. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/5 "2009-01-22T15:01:38Z")
I’m equipped/cursed with this psychological condition of empathy, whereby I feel badly about others’ pain. This results in seeking to avoid causing pain in others. And I’m afraid of what my mother would say. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/6 "2009-01-22T15:06:34Z")
Because my standards are a bit higher than that. I’ll grant you, I frequently get the urge to apply a clue-by-four to various passers-by, but as **Tubadiva** says, once you start with the foolkilling, where are you gonna stop? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/7 "2009-01-22T15:06:55Z")
I have a lot of friends and family who wouldn’t like being raped or pillaged. And everyone else? Potential friends and family! Here’s a question: Why don’t Christians pillage the world? Nobody is going to die for real anyway, and they can always repent later, so why not get as much as they can for themselves in the meantime? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/8 "2009-01-22T15:07:39Z")
Innate humanity (as in “human goodness”) and empathy. (And mother-terror goes without saying.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/9 "2009-01-22T15:10:06Z")
Pillaging the Earth is just such small beer. That’s what you’d expect from a third-rate Bond villain. Personally, my ambition is to blow up the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/10 "2009-01-22T15:24:48Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > or even masturbate while eating decayed flesh from fresh graves. Stop following me around. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/11 "2009-01-22T15:27:53Z")
Liberal, this thread is surprising coming from you. I expected you to be more up to speed on typical atheist v. theist (specifically christian) arguments (I mean, you believe the ontological argument for the existence of god fer chrissakes). In any event, you are implying that all sense of right and wrong comes from religion or a belief in god, which is simply not so. Rather, it seems to be an innate part of human nature (just as certain activities and proclivities are an innate part of dog or cat nature). Furthermore, I humbly submit that if you ever stop believing in god you will not suddenly feel the need to go a-rapin’ and a-pillagin’. Finally, your assumption that someone who brlieves their own self-interest is paramount would either want to do those things in the first place or would give in to the urge to do those things shows a very undeveloped understanding of one’s self-interest. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/12 "2009-01-22T15:29:18Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Ok, [I know some of them do](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=502949), but most don’t. Most also do not rape dumb blondes in sorority houses, grab toys out of children’s hands in the park, fire shotguns through their neighbors’ windows, or even masturbate while eating decayed flesh from fresh graves. Speak for yourself, Kemosabe ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/13 "2009-01-22T15:29:43Z")
_sigh_ I’ll do it _tomorrow_! _Goes back to watching cartoons_ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/14 "2009-01-22T15:30:14Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Pillaging the Earth is just such small beer. That’s what you’d expect from a third-rate Bond villain. Personally, my ambition is to blow up the sun. _Scoff_ Just the one? Lightweight. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/15 "2009-01-22T15:31:42Z")
**Liberal** , all that would require work, a concept to which I am philosophically opposed. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/16 "2009-01-22T15:33:07Z")
If there’s no afterlife, we have to all pitch in to make this as close to paradise as we’ll ever get. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/17 "2009-01-22T15:34:50Z")
Well, in these fast times, who really has the leisure to engage in some decent pillaging any more? I’m lucky if I can find a baby to quickly gobble up during lunchbreak every now and then! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/18 "2009-01-22T15:37:27Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Liberal, this thread is surprising coming from you. I expected you to be more up to speed on typical atheist v. theist (specifically christian) arguments (I mean, you believe the ontological argument for the existence of god fer chrissakes). I think he’s spoofing, or at least thinks he’s spoofing the GD thread “Why don’t Christians Skydive”. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/19 "2009-01-22T15:37:56Z")
Myself as a non-believer am more concerned that the only reason believers do the right thing is because of a fear-of-god (which I don’t really believe). I take the humanist approach and do the right thing because it is humane, I have a respect for my fellow man, and doing so promotes human welfare. It scares me to think that if god came down and said “it’s okay to rape, steal, and murder” his followers would actually start doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457/20 "2009-01-22T15:38:13Z")
Because knowing that I’m utterly left to my own devices and that no magic sky father is looking over my eternal shoulder I have little choice but to supply the God attributed joy, beauty, and magic myself. I think I’d be much worse if I thought that I really had a Jesus Brand Safety Net. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-atheists-pillage-the-earth/482457.md?page=2)