Killing is OK?

[Messenger]

I think logically killing is fine for both theists and atheists
Ridiculous   :brick:   (Maybe fear that they will do the same)

If Evolution is true, then all humans and animals are one species or if you choose to say different then all individuals are different, can we put N as the generation number to stop killing or not?

[DennisK]

If God exists, then what he says is good

What does god say?

[bowmore]

If Evolution is true, then all humans and animals are one species

Apart from the fact that species isn't defined as such I see your point.

If we are related to animals by common descent how is eating animals different from eating humans?

I'll immediately add that by that logic eating plants has the same problem.

So in order to survive we must eat some of our 'relatives', or find substitutes.

Lacking enough substitutes (afaik) where do we draw the line? Or do we draw a line at all?

I haven't ever pondered this before, so I guess I'll need some more time on this.

[Messenger]

If God exists, then what he says is good

What does god say?

It depends on which God!
but in general God says kill p1 and don't kill p2   (groups of people)

So the argument is to know which god is true, not use killing as an excuse to deny him  

[Kyuuketsuki]

I voted "eat anything apart from humans" but the only reason that is so is because it doesn't make sense to hunt, kill & eat our own species when there are others that we can ... in a survival situation I accept that cannibalism might occur.

In other words there is no particular reason we shouldn't eat human flesh (I believe there is comparative evidence that eating your own species isn't good for you but not sure) except that we are special, if only to us.

Kyu

[DennisK]

My point, Messenger, is that god doesn't talk.  Assuming he did is illogical to me, therefore I am unable to go further and define what is logic when it is already outside this realm.

The majority of people have sociologically evolved and believe it is wrong kill or eat another human.  It is definitely socially unacceptable to eat another human or other primates, but it still occurs (although, not as it once was).  I believe the longer civilization moves forward, the stigma attached to killing and cannibalism will worsen.  Then again, we are evolving.

[curiosityandthecat]

Didn't Jonathan Swift writea little something about this?

 

[rlrose328]

Logically, it makes no sense to eat our own species (humans) when plenty of other alternatives exist.  I acknowledge that I'm at the top of the food chain (opposable thumbs, ability to rationalize and verbalize, etc.), but I cannot personally kill another creature for food.  If I had to, I guess I'd be a vegetarian.  

And it's not a morals or ethics or philosophical issue... it's a gross issue.  

I'm a meat eater and I'm okay with that.

[joeactor]

Eat the rich.  The poor are tough and stringy.

God is good... with a nice Kiante and some fava beans,
JoeActor

p.s. I'm not a vegitarian, but I am a humanitarian...

[Sophus]

If you kill it, you eat it ....

with a nice Kiante and some fava beans,

.... so, yes joe, I would say Hannibal had the right idea...

[Wechtlein Uns]

I tend to think that a prohibition against killing allows society to not self-destruct. Even if there is no absolute law against killing, there are often prerequisite actions that must be taken/forbidden to reach the goals of whatever someone wants. And if man wants society, then by god, killing others is a detriment to that, and must be stopped.

Relative, yes. But still useful.  

[Chemistry08]

I find it a bit disturbing that any human being would find cannibalism (of other human beings) acceptable socially or otherwise. Like it or not, the brains that millions of years of evolution created that all of us have are highly susceptible to social evolution that many animals don't experience. The rationalizing capability of our brains is what separates us from animals and eating one another would make us, in my opinion, inhumane. Views like this, in my opinion, encourage people to believe that atheists lack morality.

Let me just say, I'm an avid outdoorsman. There is nothing that I enjoy more than living off the land for days at a time with very few supplies. I will go out with no food which forces me to kill my own food, typically a rabbit or squirrel. I do feel bad when killing animals but I know that without animal sacrifice death is imminent. However, If I was stranded in the woods with another human being and he/she past away, I could be on the brink of death and would rather die then eat my fellow human being. This is what I believe makes me an intelligent and moral being that we as a species have come to be and that is how I intend to keep it.

[Will]

Cannibalism only makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint if the species will be in danger of dying out without cannibalism. That situation does not exist and likely will not exist in any of our lifetimes. In fact, I'd say it's detrimental to the species to remove genes from the pool by ingesting them, ensuring they're unable to mate. What if you ate someone that would give birth to a child that had a mutation that would, over millions of years, make humans immune to gamma radiation? Or the vacuum of space? You could have just damned our species.

From an ethical/moral standpoint, it's very simple. The social contract in this case is as simple as the golden rule. Cannibalism is probably the most egregious breach of the golden rule imaginable.

No, I can't really see cannibalism as acceptable.

[karadan]

Chicken tastes like human, apparently..

[bowmore]

Cannibalism only makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint if the species will be in danger of dying out without cannibalism. That situation does not exist and likely will not exist in any of our lifetimes. In fact, I'd say it's detrimental to the species to remove genes from the pool by ingesting them, ensuring they're unable to mate. What if you ate someone that would give birth to a child that had a mutation that would, over millions of years, make humans immune to gamma radiation? Or the vacuum of space? You could have just damned our species.

I just wanted to point out that cannibalism, doesn't necessarily entail murder.
Those that died naturally won't procreate anyway, so eating them doesn't carry the problem you point out.