Atheist Perspective » an atheist perspective on morality: killing people

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an atheist perspective on morality: killing people

07-27-2008

I know that killing me is wrong, and everybody’s somebody’s me. So killing people is wrong.
People are getting killed in all sorts of places, in all sorts of ways. Mostly, it’s stuff like hunger and road accidents and streetcrime and domestic violence, the kind of things that everyone’s against as long as they don’t actually have to do anything about it, including people who claim to speak for various “gods”.
But there is one form of killing which is widely supported, and that’s warfare. This is where politicians instruct employees of the state to murder foreign people in order to achieve political or economic objectives. Generally this form of killing has been approved of and supported by religious people, who are often employed to help persuade individual soldiers that killing the foreigners is a good idea, and that they should do what they are told, because the old men who are telling them to do it are justified by their magic books, and by telepathically transferred instructions from their imaginary gods.

Here is an example of the way in which imaginary gods are used to separate soldiers from personal moral responsibility for the killing that they do to order. Repeating this kind of mantra forestalls thought by numbing the mind. It is the
Royal Regiment of Artillery Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ,
Who dost everywhere lead thy people in the way of righteousness,
Vouchsafe so as to lead the Royal Regiment of Artillery,
That wherever we serve,
On land or sea or in the air,
We may win the glory of doing thy will
Amen.

BANG! BANG!

Tags: atheism, morality, Violence

Comments

5 comments so far.

Elmod Fitzgerald said:

On October 02
At 4:34 PM

Can’t the logic of morality be seen as an evolutionary development for a social life-form, and therefore a means to a norm? A logical norm reduces the extinction of a species.

Gretchen Lara said:

On November 13
At 2:50 AM

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PJ said:

On January 11
At 12:09 AM

Do you believe there is a distinction between killing someone and murdering someone? Some would argue that in a Just War (ie WW2), a soldier is not murdering another soldier, even though he is killing them.

And do you believe murder in itself is an absolute wrong? For example, if Von Stauffenberg had succeeded in murdering Hitler, possibly preventing the deaths of millions, would it still been wrong to murder him?

Elmod Fitzgerald said:

On January 13
At 4:46 PM

Do you believe there is a distinction between killing someone and murdering someone? Some would argue that in a Just War (ie WW2), a soldier is not murdering another soldier, even though he is killing them.

And do you believe murder in itself is an absolute wrong? For example, if Von Stauffenberg had succeeded in murdering Hitler, possibly preventing the deaths of millions, would it still been wrong to murder him?

This question, IMHO, assumes a morally ambiguous precedent be agreed upon:

The question of relative morality is not completely, even by atheists and theists alike, not agreed upon. Granted, most will agree that it is good and right to not let the law murder your kid, and to lie for your kid, but other things are not as certain: is it right to save a good man if it takes the deaths of three less good men? This is the first point that must be decided upon.

PJ said:

On January 13
At 7:41 PM

Elmond, I agree 100%. That was the point I was going to go on and attempt to make later on, depending upon the response I got. It’s a very interesting topic of discussion.

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