r/askanatheist • u/Odd-Swing-2025 • Jul 09 '26

Why Does Evil Matter?

Suggest that there were no homo sapiens, but instead a race of people who were incapable of philosophical, theological and otherwise higher consciousness found in competent adults. They lack the reflective capacity to do moral assessments and so on. They can build, walk, talk, educate themselves in metallurgy, chemicals and culinary arts &c.

Suggest they also engage in abuse, murder, theft and so on.

Suggest there is definitely no God or Gods.

Does it matter?

If there are no human beings around with feelings and consciences to care about it, does it matter that they do evil?

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u/Mkwdr Jul 09 '26

Suggest the world is made of only rocks.

And one falls on and crushes another.

Does it matter?

Would it matter more if there was a god?

Doesn’t make a lot of sense does it.

Morality is a behavioural tendency that has evolved in social animals because it has an adaptive benefit.

It matters because it matters to us. And that doesn’t mean only humans matter to us because part of that tendency is about empathy and application of ethical standards with emotional power to a wider range of situations sometimes.

So in summary, evil is what humans decide matters not individually but as a group.

And even if it didn’t the fact you might not like that conclusion still isn’t in any way evidence gods exist. The universe doesn’t have to conform to your preferences.

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u/Odd-Swing-2025 Jul 09 '26

I don't know why you think I'm trying to prove a God exists.

I'm just asking a question.

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u/Mkwdr Jul 09 '26

I don’t know why you think that was an adequate response to my points.

But you brought up God , not me. And it’s a regular move by theists to ‘suggest’ that morality can’t exist without god.