Post #4155489

2026-07-28 03:54 UTC

If you do nothing else in this world, be kind. Then, ideally, be helpful. But nail that first part. I don't know if there's a god, but there *are* other people, and you help them by being kind. That should be good enough reason to do it. And to be clear - at least for me, being kind is not easy. It’s a lot of work. It means not judging people too quckly. It means taking a pause in uncomfortable situatons. It’s a big ask. I work on it (w/limited success) every day. But please do try.

Replies (2)

@azonenberg@ioc.exchange 2026-07-28 05:21

@Drwave@mastodon.social I've often found the argument that religion is essential to morality etc to reflect poorly on the person making it. Essentially what you're saying is that the only reason you're nice to other people is that you believe you'll be tortured for all eternity in the afterlife if you aren't. My approach is a bit more like an inverse Pascal's wager. There's three possible scenarios: 1) There is no god, I made the world a better place, and I meet my eventual demise knowing I did the best I could with the hand I was dealt. 2) There is a narcissistic god who just wants adoration from his people and cares more about you singing his praises regularly than you being an otherwise Good Person. In this scenario, I'm probably going to hell. But I want no part of an afterlife ruled by a deity who only cares about himself anyway. He can keep it. 3) A god exists who couldn't care less about what you think of him and just wants to see people be nice to each other. If he offers me a seat in heaven I'll take it. But unless you want to go to the heaven in scenario 2, the presence or absence of said deity doesn't affect how you should live your life.

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@jon_alper@mastodon.online 2026-07-28 06:51

@Drwave@mastodon.social Kinda troubling how many people won’t do this without the threat of eternal damnation.

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