What or whom do atheists posit as their highest authority?

[Cyperium]

Cyperium, I too believe that if I do something good, or be helpful to people then they too will be good or helpful in turn. To me or others. Experience has shown that to be true more often than not. But I do it out "self interest", if you like, not out of a belief in God.
The fact that you have a belief is not proof that the object of belief exists, and neither does the fact that the belief structure works.
The reciprocation of my "goodness" only strengthens my opinin (or belief) that "if you're nice to people they'll be nice to you".
Unless you mean that if you're good the good things that happen to you will be admission to an afterlife. In which case could you explain why that is anything more than self interest with a long-term and unproven payback?

The self interest was not in discussion but I can make a few lines anyway; we all have self interest, we may not do a good thing solely out of self interest, but a part of it are usually self interest. But that doesn't change the good thing, and self interest isn't allways a bad thing. If I have self interest into going to heaven, and do good things because of that, then I haven't done anything wrong by that. If I though have self interest that people will appreciate me because I give money to the poor and do it in everyones sight, then I might be hypocritical if that was the only reason and I didn't do it because of the poor.

Do you see what I mean? Self interest is a two sided coin and it can be good at certain circumstanses and it can be bad at certain circumstanses.

But what I really meant talking about was that I can perceive the "idea" I have as more correct if it shows itself in reality. If I have the belief/idea that doing good will give me good, then that is strengthen if it really turns out that doing good gives me good. It isn't much harder than that. Belief itself also strengthens because I find out that it's good to have belief in something.

It works that way for me anyway.

 

[Hapsburg]

Yo Hapsburg,

How come Goerge Bush can murder those that don`t agree with him at will?

Because he part of the Government, and the government can do whatever they want, they are above the law, for they ARE the law.

 

[alain]

"Actually, if you were to study the goals and values of Satanism, you would find that the atheists goals and values are the same"

atheists aren't a mass group. The best thing about being an athiests is that every one has different goals

my highest authority, is a combination of my own moral code, and the ideas of my idols (people such as Karl Marx)

 

[comisaru]

In the name of what do atheists demand that theists present proof of God?
What gives them the right to demand such proof?

Just for fun. Nothing personal.

 

[(Q)]

I said I believed in an afterlife. I'm not saying I know! You don't know that the afterlife doesn't exist.

You believe in the afterlife because you want to believe in it. What possible evidence would suggest one existed?

 

[river-wind]

water,
You may have the preconception that man is inherently evil. You, of course, get this from holy books. You think we need a divine edict regarding this. You are wrong.

Man is inherently good. No group could survive long enough to evolve intellect at all if not for a natural tendency for good.

I have not yet read this whole thread, but I wanted to make a comment on this point.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) tests have shown that a person truthfully recalling an event accesses the same parts of the brain that are in use during the original expirience. People who lie about an expirience access a different part of the brain.

So, biochemically, humans are, by nature, truthful animals. It requires a more complex process to lie than it does to recount events honestly.
Good/evil does not directly equate to truth/lie, but I found it to be a telling bit of information.

Carry on.

 

[Cyperium]

I said I believed in an afterlife. I'm not saying I know! You don't know that the afterlife doesn't exist.

You believe in the afterlife because you want to believe in it. What possible evidence would suggest one existed?

Suggest? Do you mean as a indication?

One indication is that we are here at all, we weren't allways (before life/after life, what's the difference?)

 

[(Q)]

One indication is that we are here at all

How in the world is that an indication of an afterlife?

before life/after life, what's the difference?

Before and after life is without life. So, no difference. What is your point?