objectivist101

Thank you for your response. To answer your question my cousin was 27 when she had her child and yes, I do think her husband wanted me to be the god mother.

My cousin has just had a baby girl whom she has had baptized. She asked me to be her daughter's godmother when I was sixteen years old. I have been an atheist since I was fourteen. I was honored to be offered such an important part in their child's life. The issue is that I do not follow the Catholic Church any longer. I do not believe in a god, hell, or any sort of after life. I told my cousin that I do not really believe in Christianity and she said, "That's okay, we just like to believe in an after life because thinking of nothing happening after death is kind of sad." I shrugged and decided I would just go through with it because I wanted this important position in the child's life and I had warned my cousin about my personal values. Now I am seventeen years old and still even more estranged from the church. I have delved deeper into objectivism and aristotelianism. I would rather my god daughter read Atlas Shrugged than the Bible. I want to teach her ethics based on reality. I now feel cognitive dissonance because I am her god mother. Should I talk to my cousin and tell her I cannot give her daughter a catholic up bringing as she wants? Any ideas on what I should do?

I would agree that some religions (Islam) does not do good. But, Christianity, a religion that has a morality system that values life, hard work, and loving one's family is a "powerful thing that will drive the common man to act morally." By the universality law, the world would prosper on these values. Many atheists hold values which are not so great, and many are more moral escape artists than anything else. I'm not saying all are, because that certainly is not my intention as an atheist, but if universality law was applied to the moral system of a lot of atheists, the world would not thrive. Also, people like religion. Not only because of a promise of a life after death, but they enjoy singing songs, they like the holidays, they like the sense of belonging and community. Also, throughout history, most civilizations begin with a common religion. That is why I've concluded that religion, or more specifically, Christianity, can be powerful and helpful for humanity.

Good point. What would you say the deductive steps are? I am only seventeen and still trying to figure out deductive reasoning and such. Could you please help me? Thank you

I have become increasingly interested in Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. This philosophy begins with one absolute, that existence, exists. I live my life in accordance with this premise, that reality is an absolute. Therefore, I cannot believe in a man who lives in the sky who will eventually judge me on how well I've completed the ethical obstacle course of life. I do believe religion is a powerful thing that drives the common man to act morally, and brings communities together (excluding Islam). I don't mean to say I am above such a thing, but I would much rather explore moralities that different philosophers have to offer rather than blindly follow a religion which can become corrupt quickly (and has presently). Oscar Wilde said "But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen."