re: Suppose you discovered there is no afterlife

There is something but it may be nothing

I wouldn't change anything. Whether there's a God and Satan or not, there's still good and evil and living in a world with unrestrained selfishness would eventually deteriorate into the widespread cesspool we see with theives acting as if there's no repercussions rather than localized as it is now.

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never considered someone would turn to religion as a form of accountability

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This is a board full of followers.....praise Jesus.... not free thinkers

It wouldn’t

Insert Rust Cohle quote

Wouldn’t have any effect on how I live my life. In fact, as a Christian I’ve always thought that doing the right thing just to be rewarded with Heaven seems a little like doing the right thing as a child to ensure you get your allowance.

I believe tbere is a difference between right and wrong and we should all strive to do what is right.

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Great, a thread to expose what self-righteous douchebags atheists are

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It’s funny how two people can read the exact same thread and walk away with completely opposite impressions. I actually caught myself noting several times how unusually civil and thoughtful most of the participants were throughout the discussion, especially in light of the subject.

Obviously, the occasional drive-by idiot is going to chime in, but compared to past discussions on this topic, I found the majority here far better behaved.

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How would that affect your morality, how you live your life?

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I am already an atheist, so it wouldn’t matter much.

Morality is mostly just an extension of social constructs. We are at our best as a species when we work together and that requires having laws and structures in place that consolidate our efforts. There wouldn’t be a Hoover Dam or Moon landing without significant social organization. And we do have measures in place to maintain it.

Prison may not be eternal hellfire, but it’s still a pretty good deterrent. And things like mountain views, ribeye steak, movies, music, sports, and your kid’s smile and laughter may not be whatever Heaven is supposed to be - but it’s still worth living for.

Our ancient ancestors found the will to survive a world a hell of a lot harder than ours and build society from scratch without Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad. We don’t really need all the hocus pocus. We’re just taught that we do and it becomes a crutch.

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How would that affect your morality

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I could only discover that after being dead.

And if I discovered it, obviously there would be an afterlife.

So your question is impossible and meaningless.

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When you live life for yourself and not a higher power, there is no absolute truth or morality and the goal posts keep moving.. a la the modern democrat party.

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I generally agree. But I will also add that it seems the truth/morality goal posts have dramatically moved for believers as well as the Republican party in the last 2 decades. I'm not sure that I could name a single consistent principled belief that the Republican or Democrat party has right now. It seems to change every 4-5 years based on whatever is getting tweeted the most. What you are describing is an across the board moral decay in this nation.