See this is how I can tell you're just being edgy and probably not even an adult yet, you equate Western society with the United States.
The moral system Christianity had a big influence and dominance over preceded our modern Western world by several centuries
It absolutely did not. You do realize that both of the societies viewed as the foundation of the West (Greek and Rome) existed and in fact Jesus was alive and died during the Roman Empire? And that the Old Testament makes direct references to both Greece and Rome?
The Dark Ages are a good example of what “the west” looked like when Christian ethics
By "Christian" you mean "Catholic" and there were absolutely plenty of immoral things the Catholic Church did to society. Hence protestantism and the reformation.
I have a right to exist for my own sake. That is true. I have a right to my life, that is also true. I don’t owe strangers my life, that is also true.
You exist because God allows you to exist, but he also gave you free will, and you definitely have rights. Christianity does nothing to make you give your life to strangers and it's kind of funny that you keep insinuating that it does, there must have been some sort of disconnect when whatever r/atheism post or cringe YouTube video taught you this misguided perception of the philosophy. It's kind of like how non-native English speakers from India all tend to use the phrase "do the needful" even though a native English speaker would likely never say that.
You don’t know what “truth” is
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" - 1 Corinthians 1:27, see also the book of Job. You are not smarter than God, even though you think you are, and one day you will realize that.
Bernie Sanders??? Is that you???
So helping the needy makes me Bernie? Why are you so selfish? You don't have to give away everything (or even a majority) and we were definitely overtaxed, but you're not willing to help those in need at all? What if you were homeless or hungry, wouldn't you want someone to help you?
Preaching self-sacrifice as a moral virtue makes you an altruist and a piece of shit commie, yes.
Men of reason and self-esteem don’t engage in sacrifices. They live life as traders, trading value for value and never sacrifice others to himself of himself to others.
The only people who preach this nonsense are mystics and commies, but I repeat myself.
“Why are you so selfish?”
Because I am a living human being and my life, like the life of every other living creature, requires that I am the ultimate beneficiary of my actions. Otherwise, I die.
Again, listen to yourself. You are literally using the exact same lingo the god damn commies use.
“You don't have to give away everything (or even a majority)”
I don’t owe you shit just because you are a failure. Fuck off commie.
“but you're not willing to help those in need at all?”
Not as a moral duty, not against my will and not simply on the basis of need, no.
I only help those who 1. mean something to me 2. those who did not cause their circumstances, 3. who truly cannot help themselves and only 4. when and if I can.
Most people who are out there begging for money and on welfare do not pass that test.
“What if you were homeless or hungry, wouldn't you want someone to help you?”
I would never be in that circumstance because I am not a piece of shit and I am not disabled.
If it ever did happen I could rely on the voluntary, non-sacrificial charity of family and friends, who would help me in a way consistent with the points i outlined above.
I certainly would not expect or demand that a stranger help me, as a moral duty or against his will simply because I needed help. Strangers don’t owe me shit, they are not responsible for satisfying my needs and I don’t pretend for one second that need is an argument.
Preaching self-sacrifice as a moral virtue makes you an altruist and a piece of shit commie, yes.
So before you argue with strangers on the internet, you should Google what a strawman argument is, because that's what you're making here. Donating 20 bucks to a children's hospital or volunteering a soup kitchen doesn't make you a communist piece of shit. Bernie's form of "help" is forced and thus immoral. Being kind and helping less fortunate people, voluntarily, is absolutely a virtue.
Men of reason and self-esteem don’t engage in sacrifices. They live life as traders, trading value for value and never sacrifice others to himself of himself to others.
Wow, what a great path to a society of atomized, isolated, sad people with no community. Lending a hand to others is a great way to improve your community and feel better about yourself, you should try it some time, then you might be less angry.
Because I am a living human being and my life, like the life of every other living creature, requires that I am the ultimate beneficiary of my actions. Otherwise, I die.
Bro, donating a small amount of money or volunteering a small amount of your time will not kill you.
I don’t owe you shit just because you are a failure. Fuck off commie.
lol, so funny, I make six figures and I'm a computer programmer with a lot of nice things, a rightwing gf, and speak multiple languages. Yet there was a time where I was too poor to know where my next meal was coming from and almost failed high school. I needed some help. So are you saying that everyone less fortunate than you is a piece of shit? People should absolutely help themselves. Communism is bad. Handouts are generally bad. But people don't live in a vacuum. There is a middle ground between communism and never helping anyone out ever.
I only help those who 1. mean something to me 2. those who did not cause their circumstances, 3. who truly cannot help themselves and only 4. when and if I can.
Oh that's cool, RagnarDanneskjold420 is apparently the arbiter of whether people who need help caused their circumstances or who cannot help themselves. When's the last time you donated your time or money to help people less fortunate?
Most people who are out there begging for money and on welfare do not pass that test.
There is a grain of truth in this statement in that a lot of people feign helplessness or need and that is evil to do.
I would never be in that circumstance because I am not a piece of shit and I am not disabled.
You don't know that lol. You do not have that level of control over your life and could be made homeless tomorrow. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.
If it ever did happen I could rely on the voluntary, non-sacrificial charity of family and friends
Bold of you to assume people who may need help have either family or friends.
“Bro, donating a small amount of money or volunteering a small amount of your time will not kill you”
Bernie Bro, that’s not the question. The question isnt will a small sacrifice kill me?
The question is, “am I morally obligated to sacrifice myself to others?” and the answer is no.
A small amount of poison won’t kill you either by the way, it doesn’t mean it’s a good or moral idea to ingest small amounts of poison.
“Bold of you to assume people who may need help have either family or friends”
People whose family and friends no longer help them are scum and you are a vicious moron if you help them too.
There’s usually a good reason someone’s own family and friends stop helping them. If one of my friends/family members turned out of be a pedophile I would no longer stop helping them, I would expect that other people also not help them.
If you are such a piece of shit that not even your own family or friends will help you then your life is not something we should worry too much about.
You certainly won’t convince me that it is moral to give money to able bodied people on the mere basis of need. Feel free to continue spewing commie bullshit about a so called duty to the poor, how greedy I am because I want to keep what is rightfully mine and how virtuous you are because you agree with Bernie Sanders.
See this is how I can tell you're just being edgy and probably not even an adult yet, you equate Western society with the United States.
It absolutely did not. You do realize that both of the societies viewed as the foundation of the West (Greek and Rome) existed and in fact Jesus was alive and died during the Roman Empire? And that the Old Testament makes direct references to both Greece and Rome?
By "Christian" you mean "Catholic" and there were absolutely plenty of immoral things the Catholic Church did to society. Hence protestantism and the reformation.
You exist because God allows you to exist, but he also gave you free will, and you definitely have rights. Christianity does nothing to make you give your life to strangers and it's kind of funny that you keep insinuating that it does, there must have been some sort of disconnect when whatever r/atheism post or cringe YouTube video taught you this misguided perception of the philosophy. It's kind of like how non-native English speakers from India all tend to use the phrase "do the needful" even though a native English speaker would likely never say that.
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" - 1 Corinthians 1:27, see also the book of Job. You are not smarter than God, even though you think you are, and one day you will realize that.
So helping the needy makes me Bernie? Why are you so selfish? You don't have to give away everything (or even a majority) and we were definitely overtaxed, but you're not willing to help those in need at all? What if you were homeless or hungry, wouldn't you want someone to help you?
“So helping the needy makes me Bernie?”
Preaching self-sacrifice as a moral virtue makes you an altruist and a piece of shit commie, yes.
Men of reason and self-esteem don’t engage in sacrifices. They live life as traders, trading value for value and never sacrifice others to himself of himself to others.
The only people who preach this nonsense are mystics and commies, but I repeat myself.
“Why are you so selfish?”
Because I am a living human being and my life, like the life of every other living creature, requires that I am the ultimate beneficiary of my actions. Otherwise, I die.
Again, listen to yourself. You are literally using the exact same lingo the god damn commies use.
“You don't have to give away everything (or even a majority)”
I don’t owe you shit just because you are a failure. Fuck off commie.
“but you're not willing to help those in need at all?”
Not as a moral duty, not against my will and not simply on the basis of need, no.
I only help those who 1. mean something to me 2. those who did not cause their circumstances, 3. who truly cannot help themselves and only 4. when and if I can.
Most people who are out there begging for money and on welfare do not pass that test.
“What if you were homeless or hungry, wouldn't you want someone to help you?”
I certainly would not expect or demand that a stranger help me, as a moral duty or against his will simply because I needed help. Strangers don’t owe me shit, they are not responsible for satisfying my needs and I don’t pretend for one second that need is an argument.
Because I’m not a fucking commie...
So before you argue with strangers on the internet, you should Google what a strawman argument is, because that's what you're making here. Donating 20 bucks to a children's hospital or volunteering a soup kitchen doesn't make you a communist piece of shit. Bernie's form of "help" is forced and thus immoral. Being kind and helping less fortunate people, voluntarily, is absolutely a virtue.
Wow, what a great path to a society of atomized, isolated, sad people with no community. Lending a hand to others is a great way to improve your community and feel better about yourself, you should try it some time, then you might be less angry.
Bro, donating a small amount of money or volunteering a small amount of your time will not kill you.
lol, so funny, I make six figures and I'm a computer programmer with a lot of nice things, a rightwing gf, and speak multiple languages. Yet there was a time where I was too poor to know where my next meal was coming from and almost failed high school. I needed some help. So are you saying that everyone less fortunate than you is a piece of shit? People should absolutely help themselves. Communism is bad. Handouts are generally bad. But people don't live in a vacuum. There is a middle ground between communism and never helping anyone out ever.
Oh that's cool, RagnarDanneskjold420 is apparently the arbiter of whether people who need help caused their circumstances or who cannot help themselves. When's the last time you donated your time or money to help people less fortunate?
There is a grain of truth in this statement in that a lot of people feign helplessness or need and that is evil to do.
You don't know that lol. You do not have that level of control over your life and could be made homeless tomorrow. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.
Bold of you to assume people who may need help have either family or friends.
“Bro, donating a small amount of money or volunteering a small amount of your time will not kill you”
Bernie Bro, that’s not the question. The question isnt will a small sacrifice kill me?
The question is, “am I morally obligated to sacrifice myself to others?” and the answer is no.
A small amount of poison won’t kill you either by the way, it doesn’t mean it’s a good or moral idea to ingest small amounts of poison.
“Bold of you to assume people who may need help have either family or friends”
People whose family and friends no longer help them are scum and you are a vicious moron if you help them too.
There’s usually a good reason someone’s own family and friends stop helping them. If one of my friends/family members turned out of be a pedophile I would no longer stop helping them, I would expect that other people also not help them.
If you are such a piece of shit that not even your own family or friends will help you then your life is not something we should worry too much about.
You certainly won’t convince me that it is moral to give money to able bodied people on the mere basis of need. Feel free to continue spewing commie bullshit about a so called duty to the poor, how greedy I am because I want to keep what is rightfully mine and how virtuous you are because you agree with Bernie Sanders.