Do you think that the promise of an afterlife should change the way you act in this life? Or, Atheists and religious folks together, do you think that you should simply act a certain way because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the consequences?
by 
Ender
ANSWERS: 5
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I think you should act in accordance with what is the right thing to do. That being said, we would probably not all agree on what is 'right', so that still leaves quite a span of behavior.
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We should act according to what we think is right, avoiding harming of others. Frankly, if there was an afterlife and some sort of judgement, I don't think it would look good on your corporeal life resume that you only avoided murder, theft, deceit, and generally being a schmuck just out of fear of consequences.
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Ultimately how one acts is based more on their level of conscience. Some people live their lives in good faith to other human beings and others with a low level of conscience don't. The promise of an afterlife should not reflect upon your behavoir in this lifetime, if you exist in this world with a thorough knowledge that you are living amongst other human beings. I believe it all boils down to the very old saying, treat others as you would like to be treated, afterlife or no afterlife.
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I guess the answer depends on whether or not the afterlife experience is good or bad, conditional to how you act in this life. if there are no conditions that one must meet in this life in order to have an enjoyable afterlife, then no, I don't think that should change how you act in this life. however, that said, I also believe that people should act with the "golden rule" in mind, simply because being cruel is unnecessary and because it is the, as you said, "right thing to do". I do not believe in a traditional god, but I do believe in being courteous and kind to people. contrary to what some religions might say, the desire to be kind to others is not dependent on belief in a god (or gods).
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I think that all people should act with common human decency, just because it is the right thing to do. Our society places far too much emphasis on only doing things if they will benefit yourself. What ever happened to people doing good deeds and being kind to others just to be nice?
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