I happen to be a 25 year old atheist.
First things first my definition of equality; I don't see anything as superior to anything else or inferior to anything else thus my definition is nothing is superior or inferior to anything else.
with that definition i can not even imagine a god, let alone know that one exists. so that is why i am atheist because to perceive a god is to make yourself inferior to that god, since you start believing that the god is almighty and all knowing thus you perceive that god to be superior and with my definition of equality i can not fathom a thing of this universe to be superior or inferior to me.
One friend argued that it is the arrangement of atoms that makes us who we are, that is true, but at the basically level we are all the same. I will get into that later. For know this completes blog number two.
Wouldn't this also mean you don't believe in aliens...assuming that the aliens would be an advanced species?
ReplyDeleteIf I may quote you "...i can not fathom as thing of this universe to be superior or inferior to me." If God exists it could be argued that God would not be of this universe. Another thing I would have to draw from your writing is that you could not kill an insect or pest because that would be a thing of this universe and therefore would be equal to you.
It seems that there are things that are superior and inferior to others. We make laws based around the premise that all (wo)men are equal. But isn't that out of necessity? None of us are perfect and as enlightened people we would understand this. We also understand that our judgment is not always correct. So we have to have a system that treats all equally.
But in nature superior and inferior exists in the form the for food chain. The lion eats the gazelle because the lion is superior to the gazelle. But this does not mean we should make laws to prop up a false system of superiority and inferiority. (I bring up the law because many people cannot separate the idea of right and wrong from legislation)
But if you were a perfect being with a perfect sense of justice and you looked down at us you would see who was superior and inferior. The problem is that we do not have a perfect sense of judgment. Isn't that what the study of ethics is all about? Trying to align your morals with those that are perfect? But even that involves accepting that there is something superior.
So back to the original subject...it seems obvious that superior and inferior exists. If it doesn't and all things are equal, it certainly seems to put people in a terrible conundrum when it comes to how they treat animals and insects. It would seem the only lifestyle to measure up to your original definition is that of an ascetic...and maybe not even then.