About 10 days ago I sent out a call to Christians and Atheists, asking if anyone would be interested in participating in a Q&A discussion via this blog.
About a week later, I got something better; I got a letter from Alan, a friend and family member.
I think this letter accurately captures not only Alan's questions, but also his heart in asking those questions.
So, in order to preserve the flow of the letter, and because it is rather lengthy, I would like to present it to you in a series of blog posts. I would love for you to think about the questions Alan raises, hear his motivation behind asking them, and respond. I've heard Alan reads this blog, so he may even respond from time to time.
Without further ado, a Letter from a Reluctant Atheist, Part 4:
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| The Reluctant Atheist by Prodeep Mookerjee
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...But after digesting Ayn Rand, I respect some of the concepts, but I was just not programmed that way. One of the core beliefs of Catholicism is that the road to heaven is found in doing good works here on earth. While many evangelical Christians believe that god will forgive any heinous son of a bitch who eventually accepts the lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior and he will welcome them into heaven despite the trail of destruction that they may have cut behind them, Catholics generally believe you need to actually DO good if you want eternal life. That unselfish behavior is the yin to Objectivisms yang and it is called Altruism. The pure Altruist is very outward focused, and though they certainly have to take care of basic human needs for food and shelter and the like, at their core they believe that all human beings intrinsically have value as a result of their very existence; that everyone's needs have value; that all are deserving of love, respect, and nourishment. Although raised as a Protestant, my parents were Altruists and raised me to be one. That is just how I am wired. I get infinitely more pleasure in making someone else happy than I do myself. The psychologist in me tells me that I am still, at heart, an Objectivist, because I am motivated to Altruism by the selfish joy it gives me to serve another. In the end, I guess it is still mostly about me when I zoom in on my life. But when I zoom the camera out, I see myself as a much more productive and coherent cell in the greater organism because I help others reach their goals as well as achieving my own. I haven't sought to reprogram myself because I think a healthy balance of Altruism and Objectivism is the ultimate goal. When in doubt, I still try to land on the Altruistic side of the line.
Do I do that because I want to go to heaven? No, I don't believe in heaven. And I most certainly don't believe in hell. I believe in today, I try to believe in tomorrow. I try to leave each of my human interactions with a little positive spin and trajectory whenever possible. Do I believe in Karma? Nope. But I believe that if you do good things for people, they are more likely to pay that forward in some way, and if you do evil to people, that this can turn them cold and cynical and maybe evil. It doesn't cost much to respect others and treat them with care and dignity. Following Christ's example, I think it still comes down to relationship math. I am looking for a positive value in the sum...
For Part 1,
click here.
For Part 2,
click here.
For Part 3,
click here.
For Part 5,
click here.
For Part 6,
click here.
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