If an Atheist is a good person, will they go to heaven or hell? If hell, then I don't believe in a God that punishes good people for eternity. If heaven, then what's the point of believing in God?Another way to ask this would be:
What gets a person into heaven, being good or believing in God?
Of course, the original poster wasn't interested in this answer. It was really a use of logical fallacy to justify being an atheist. Still, both questions are pointless since atheist don't believe in an afterlife. For a meaningful debate, it's important to frame a question within bounds of shared beliefs and assumptions. For example, both atheist and theist should agree to these points:
- There is some universal measure of being good (kindness, do no harm, show respect, etc.)
- The world is a better place if people are good
- We are born into this world
- While we are alive, we behave with some level of goodness
- After we die, we cannot measurably act on this world or the people in it
So our new question with shared understanding is:
What is more likely to influence a person to be good while alive, being an atheist or believing in God?
There may be the standout "benevolent atheist" or "wicked theist", but what about a million people? Would they collectively be more benevolent as atheists or theists?
That is a worthwhile debate.
An interesting post on the same subreddit
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