Question by A Piece of the Rock: To the Atheists: An ethical survey? Christians can be accused of acting ethical motivated by fear more than selfless love, and in my case I'll freely admit that many is the moment that my decisions are out of abject fear of my bacon slow cooking in hell for all eternity. But atheists don't believe in an afterlife, or at least in a final judgment, am I right? So let's say no one but you notices that you exited a store with an item they didn't charge you for. It's an outlet of an evil mega corporate giant who posted astronomical profits this quarter. The scenario is set up in a way that any "harm" done to anyone else is negligible, and that the only compelling reason for you to go back and pay for this is out of your personal code of ethics, whatever motivates them. As a Catholic, I fear roasting for my sins, but what guides my atheist comrades here? While I can't stop you from putting down gag answers, I'm thinking of blogging only the most philosophical answers off site no matter where you stand. Pile on! I'm glad to see this volume of responses so quickly. Thanks! Real quickly, I never meant to hold Christians morally superior to atheists. That's not the purpose of my asking you guys. I don't know what verbal kicks you're used to getting around here, but I mean to come off as respectful. This is one of those questions where I want to collect what you've got to say. No thumbs or slams from the asker on this one. Pythagreas, at the risk of sounding motivated selfishly more than by love *all* the time, I was afraid of risking coming off as sanctimonious saying "I would return it always, purely out of Christian love." Is that what you want to read up here, dude? I wish I were like Mother Teresa, but I'm not quite cut from that same cloth. Hmm... OTOH, whatever motivates people to act socially responsible ain't ALL bad, right? ;) Thank you for all these responses rolling in. To better clarify my setup, I wanted to pose this as follows: A Christian acts out of love at best, and next best out of honor and respect, then finally at the basest level, out of fear of punishment. My first thought in posing the question was that if you lose that last line of defense - if you could do something minimally bad and get away with it, why not? We all seem to share the two highest lines of defense in common! Badlands: "Hurt me," said the masochist. "No," said the sadist. Hell is a sliding scale of whatever you find unpleasant. Eliat: Sadly, Christians often sin against their own consciences, to the extent some have formed them. And then you factor in varying degrees of strength of faith and character across a large population. It is scandalous to outsiders. purple_kathryn: No, I don't think it a sin if you steal out of necessity, such as a starving person stealing bread. Best answer for To the Atheists: An ethical survey?:
Answer by badlands1790
Simple: the happiness and equality of other people. In fact, if the circumstances were compelling enough, I would not return the item (if the corporation was REALLY bad). If you believe in a God because you don't want to be punished, I personally find that thinking primitive and repulsive, and I would hope God doesn't take kindly to his "followers" who take that attitude. Why is it that if God loves every one of us, he sends some of us to eternal torture? What about our BDSM neighbors who are sent to Hell? That's like Heaven to them, isn't it?
Answer by Pythagreas: King Of All Primates
im am compelled to go pay for it becasue it benefits society. me paying for it, pays the wages for the worker. it might be small but it still isnt right to keep it. So the only thing stoping you from doing bad things is fear of hell? this is what scares me about religious folks.
Answer by tigris
If it's not much I am not going to go back to pay for it. If it's more than a dollar or two I'll tell them. On the other hand I've often not complained either if I get overcharged and notice it(it does happen with some regularity as special offers don't always get entered into the system). I figure it evens out. Especially if the store is really busy I even know they prefer it. It has happened to me that when I tell them that I owe them another 10 cents, that they tell me to forget it as it takes more time to correct the register than the money is worth. My personal code of ethics takes in consideration the harm done, otherwise it wouldn't be a code of ethics.
Answer by Jill
Stealing is wrong no matter who is stealing. I have no right to take what is not mine, whether someone is looking or not. It's wrong, simply because it's wrong. Is it okay to steal money from your employer because you don't feel they pay you enough? Of course it's wrong. Why in the world do you think atheists believe otherwise? I've lived in many, many cities. In almost every city, I've read newspaper articles about people being fired for stealing.........from the church they worked in! How could THAT possibly happen?
Answer by Think outside the box
My motivation would be my knowledge of right and wrong but to be honest I have done that before my 1 year old son was playing with a stuff toy and I didn't realize that he still had it until I saw it in the car when we got home, it was a $ 5 toy from walmart, but I didn't go back and pay for it, felt bad but................. Maybe I should go back and donate more money to their charity
Answer by VT in an AM handbasket รข„¢
I would go back and pay for the item. I do not believe in stealing, even accidently. More important though, I would not be caught shopping in the type of store you describe. I avoid the big box stores like the plague. It truly violates my conscience to shop in places that treat their employees badly, violate the environment, rip off the public, drive small business men under, support slave labor.... need I go on? I try very hard to live my life in a way that benefits the human race and the earth. Even though it will not benefit me in terms of "eternity" it will benefit my offspring and those other humans who follow me.
Answer by Godluvsu2
.*** WRITTEN BY AN EX ATHEISTS NOT BY MYSELF atheists are only fooling themselves about the existence of God and this is exactly why. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him. ***I was an atheist at one time. And like most atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life. I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.
Answer by amon b luckey
YOUR first error was in thinking R & S responders will read more than four lines.. if there were no atheists out there stealing & robbing. with out any ethical backlash, walgreens would not have such a perfect system for catching shoplifters. THANK YOU.
Answer by Dillicious
so a christian would be more likely to return said item, I find that laughable. The united states is one of the most religious countries in the world, with 83% believing in God. Yet the US leads the WORLD in teenage child birth rates and homocide rates. Im sorry, but Christians do not have any more morals than they rest of us, no matter how much they like to tell us they do.
Answer by Eiliat
I have not problem just leaving things as they are, in that situation. As you said, negligible harm was done and I wasn't actively stealing. If I put the item on the counter and they forgot to scan it, I haven't done anything wrong. If it were a local store I frequented and enjoyed, it would be a different story.
Answer by CreativeMusicArtist
my life is not guilt driven by an imaginary friend who will roast me for someone elses mistake.
Answer by merrywhiterose
Most Atheists have higher morals than most religious people. We have a stronger feeling of what's socially right and wrong. We don't fear a non-existant invisible man. Atheists are usually also called, "Humanists" for a reason. They consider the good of the majority, instead of the good of themselves.
www.mslaw.edu What professional code do you follow? Howard Gardner, author of Five Minds for the Future, sat down with host Lawrence R. Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, on the television show Books of Our Time to discuss the difference between ethical standards with journalists and those of bloggers. Gardner states that journalism does not have a set universal ethical code but that much larger outlets like the New York Times attempt to make their reporting 100% accurate. Gardner suggests that most blogs often do not abide by such a credo to convey accurate information to their readers. Both information outlets provide valuable information varied by the defining differences in personal professional codes. Watch the whole interview at tinyurl.com
http://falamosportugues.com// Should bloggers follow a professional code of ethics?
Editor's Note: Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D., is director of Emory University's Center for Ethics. By Paul Root Wolpe, Special to CNN Every four ... CNN's Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories. Amazon lists almost 2000 books on leadership ... My Ethics: In politics, ethics matter more than issues
While there are no distinct code of conduct for blogging, it is our responsibility to post ethical entries and uphold proper dialogue. The blogging community must at all times maintain the etiquette in their blogs and writing.
In this article, we are going to discuss some of the unsaid rules and responsibilities that come with being a blogger.
Rule #1: Always be fair and honest
This rule urges bloggers to ensure that all the information that they post must be accurate. That is, the facts should be presented clearly, without any distortion in its real context. In case where the trustworthiness and accuracy of the information is ambiguous, it is imperative to inform the reader to avoid any misunderstanding.
If photos are included in your blog post, I encourage you to put captions to explain their meaning and relevance. Be sure to never take opinions and present them as facts in your blog.
Rule #2: Do not inflict any harm on other people
Be cautious when you mention names and public events, especially when your blog post is discussing a rather controversial topic or person.
Always tread carefully when you are talking about such issues. If you have made a comment that may anger some people, consider the affected party's possible reaction and try to reduce the damage done.A person's privacy should always be respected. Invading someone's privacy in order to obtain truth and information is always rude and intrusive.
Rule #3: Be accountable for your actions
Take charge of the effects and consequences of your blogging. If you have made a mistake in your writing, acknowledge it and correct immediately. This will resolve any problems and conflicts that may have arised from it.
If people question the information that you have provided on your blog, promote a healthy discussion and be receptive to other ideas.
This may ultimately help you improve your blogging and may not be a bad thing after all.Everybody has their own yardstick of what is ethical and what isn't. The above "rules" may not be sufficient to cover everything that a blogging should try to abide to. It is important to remember that ethics is a system of moral principles that consist of the rules of conduct in how we treat others on the Internet. Hence, the topics in any blog entry should not be inflammatory nor provocative, but must be portrayed in the most objective light as possible all the time.
Suggest Responsible Blog Ethics Issues
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