Pity and Guilt: Yet Two More Reasons Creationism is Ridiculous

[Sunstone]

Pity and guilt. Pity is ugly and guilt is useless. If a god really had designed and created us, we would experience neither emotion. Only a god created by us in our own image could endorse either pity or guilt.

Thoughts? Please discuss!

 

[psychoslice]

Yes I agree, a god just makes no sense what so ever, for me to even argue about god is embarrassing.

 

[Tumah]

If it weren't for pity, what mother would wake up for the 4th time the night after she gave birth to ease the hunger of her baby?
Guilt is very important because its the initial stage of repentance.

 

[psychoslice]

If it weren't for pity, what mother would wake up for the 4th time the night after she gave birth to ease the hunger of her baby?
Guilt is very important because its the initial stage of repentance.

That's not pity, that just a natural so called love, or a mothers instincts.

 

[Tumah]

That's not pity, that just a natural so called love, or a mothers instincts.

Because she loves her child, she is taking pity on him.

 

[Revoltingest]

Because she loves her child, she is taking pity on him.

"Pity" is problematic because it's the weaponized version of "sympathy" or "sympathize".
(When someone says they "pity you", you know they're just dissing you.)
So let's look at a primary dictionary definition of "pity".....

Sympathy and sorrow aroused by the misfortune or suffering of another.

The existence of such a feeling seems useful to us as individuals & as a society.
Shouldn't a good & progressive person feel sympathy for those less fortunate than they?
It's entirely independent of the existence of gods.
The same goes for guilt.

Moreover, if these feelings are an emergent property of evolution, then they are indeed useful.
And if they are useful, then they would comport with the existence of gods.
Thus, their existence is neither disproven nor even contraindicated.

Mind you now, I'm not arguing that gods exist.
I think they don't.
This is based not upon evidence, but rather the lack thereof.

 

[Tumah]

"Pity" is problematic because it's the weaponized version of "sympathy" or "sympathize".
(When someone says they "pity you", you know they're just dissing you.)
So let's look at a primary dictionary definition of "pity".....

The existence of such a feeling seems useful to us as individuals & as a society.
It's entirely independent of the existence of gods.
The same goes for guilt.

Moreover, if these feelings are an emergent property of evolution, then they are indeed useful.
And if they are useful, then they would comport with the existence of gods.
Thus, they're neither is disproven nor even contraindicated.

Mind you now, I'm not arguing that gods exist.
I think they don't.
This is based not upon evidence, but rather the lack thereof.

I was actually basing my response on a different definition I found on dictionary.com

sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy:

From thence my example of a mother. Pity seems very positive to me.
In that respect I don't think its pity that's the problem in the case of "I pity you", but pride that a person has in being self-sufficient that interprets the pity negatively. From there perhaps evolved a new way to wound the enemy's pride.

 

[Revoltingest]

I was actually basing my response on a different definition I found on dictionary.com

From thence my example of a mother. Pity seems very positive to me.
In that respect I don't think its pity that's the problem in the case of "I pity you", but pride that a person has in being self-sufficient that interprets the pity negatively. From there perhaps evolved a new way to wound the enemy's pride.

Your definition works equally well for me.

Is it true that a Jewish mother invented guilt?
I've heard Catholics take credit for it too.
(My religious upbringing was sorely lacking.)

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't think pity or guilt are ugly or useless, but rather things that we have in order to aid in our survival as social animals. We feel sorry for those of our group, which strengthens social bonds through mutual cooperation, support, and emotional reciprocity. Guilt comes about because we have a conscious, and the lack of guilt is indicative of having a psychotic disorder. Yes, there are the downsides such as pitying a fool, which will never actually help the fool, and guilt being used as a tool of oppression and control, but without I do not think our species would have lasted long, just as having the ability to selectively feel guilty has enabled countless wars, massacres, and destruction throughout our species' history.

 

[`mud]

I pity anyone not following the OP,
and I am guilty of not following either,
or Is it neither !
Why does some god get credit for anything so simple.
It's called evolution !
~
Like I said....I don't get !
~
'mud

 

[Windwalker]

Pity and guilt. Pity is ugly and guilt is useless. If a god really had designed and created us, we would experience neither emotion. Only a god created by us in our own image could endorse either pity or guilt.

Thoughts? Please discuss!

Actually, guilt and shame are evolutionary necessities as part of our early stages of basic socialization. Like pain teaches us letting sharp objects open our skin, we learn to modify our behaviors to avoid it, thus teaching us greater survival skills. One could therefore argue God loves us by giving us these things for the sake of our survival. How we learn to integrate them is a sign of our maturity. How we deny or repress them technically would be unnatural and unhealthy. Yes?

 

[Father Heathen]

Pity and guilt are a natural part of possessing empathy. Pity makes us feel sympathy for the less fortunate, and guilt makes us feel remorse when we've wronged others. The alternative would be sociopathy.

 

[Revoltingest]

Pity and guilt are a natural part of possessing empathy. Pity makes us feel sympathy for the less fortunate, and guilt makes us feel remorse when we've wronged others. The alternative would be sociopathy.

Note that this is obvious even to those of us who are empathy challenged.

 

[Zosimus]

"Pity" is problematic because it's the weaponized version of "sympathy" or "sympathize".
(When someone says they "pity you", you know they're just dissing you.)
So let's look at a primary dictionary definition of "pity".....

The existence of such a feeling seems useful to us as individuals & as a society.
Shouldn't a good & progressive person feel sympathy for those less fortunate than they?
It's entirely independent of the existence of gods.
The same goes for guilt.

Moreover, if these feelings are an emergent property of evolution, then they are indeed useful.
And if they are useful, then they would comport with the existence of gods.
Thus, their existence is neither disproven nor even contraindicated.

Mind you now, I'm not arguing that gods exist.
I think they don't.
This is based not upon evidence, but rather the lack thereof.

I don't agree. When someone says "X took pity on Y" that doesn't mean that the pittier is dissing the other party.

 

[Revoltingest]

I don't agree.

Well, there goes my winning streak of your agreeing with my every post!

When someone says "X took pity on Y" that doesn't mean that the pittier is dissing the other party.

Did I ever say that "pity" is always used in that way?
Geeze Louise....if I said the moon is made of green cheese, you'd prolly disagree with that too!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Note that this is obvious even to those of us who are empathy challenged.

I've noticed empathy is highly over rated by those who have the "normal" brain functioning for empathy.

 

[Revoltingest]

I've noticed empathy is highly over rated by those who have the "normal" brain functioning for empathy.

Let's not demonize those neurotypicals.
They too have some value to humanity.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Let's not demonize those neurotypicals.
They too have some value to humanity.

I'm not demonizing them, but it does annoy me, greatly, when they say things like "you need empathy to have morality." Even psychopaths and sociopaths, who are marked by a lack of empathy, rather than impaired empathy, are capable of living "moral lives," and most of them do.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm not demonizing them, but it does annoy me, greatly, when they say things like "you need empathy to have morality." Even psychopaths and sociopaths, who are marked by a lack of empathy, rather than impaired empathy, are capable of living "moral lives," and most of them do.

I was joking.
(I'm humor impaired too.)

 

[Zosimus]

Well, there goes my winning streak of your agreeing with my every post!

Did I ever say that "pity" is always used in that way?
Geeze Louise....if I said the moon is made of green cheese, you'd prolly disagree with that too!

I wouldn't disagree with it. I would just say that you have no way of knowing that and that the proper position is one of agnosticism.