Lloyd R. Parker wrote:
>> Jeffrey Haber (haber at sb.fsu.edu) wrote:
> : Why are you responsible for another person's poverty unless you've
> : advocated that someone be forcibly prevented from earning a living? In
> : a free society, if you wanted to help someone who was impoverished, you
> : would not be stopped.
>> Well, if you're a Christian, you're responsible for your fellow man
> (including the poor) because Jesus said that we should help those less
> fortunate. If you have a conscience, or any sense of morals or ethics, I'd
> think you'd feel some responsibility to help those in need too.
Fortunately, I've chosen atheism, so I don't have to adhere to any
dogmas. I have a conscience and a strong sense of morals and ethics
(see "The Objectivist Ethics" in Ayn Rand's anthology The Virute of
Selfishness). Consequently, I totally reject all doctrines resembling
Original Sin, in this context, that I should feel an unearned guilt for
someone else's misfortune when I did nothing to contribute to that
misfortune. I may feel compassion if it is warranted, but not guilt.
Jeffrey Haber
http://www.sb.fsu.edu/~haber
