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Yep, Atheism means a belief in zero God (s).
This is an understood concept and we are not questioning whether Atheism believes in any God(s)?
Athiesm's opinion to render justice to anyone who is dead is not possible since death neutralizes them. We discussed and understood this part.
The point where we at now is,
"Atheism's opinion about injustice done to a party that is alive.
Say someone breaks into your house, beats your dog with a metal rod to death, stabs your cat with a sharp knife, rapes your wife, shoots you in the leg, steals your money and is never get caught by law enforcement.
Now, do you think is there anything wrong or something out of balance in this scenario?
If no, then perhaps there is no "right or wrong" for an Athiest.
If yes, what's Athiesm's opinion/suggestion to balance out this situation or render justice?
An atheist would view the above scenario the same as anyone else. As a tragic circumstance.
There is no "balance" awaiting unpunished wrong doers. That is a fantasy theists hold.
Non-believers don't like the idea of injustice, we're just not under the delusion that our invisible friend will punish the bad guys that got away.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the ____heads past and present actually had to atone for their ____headness. The ides certainly has its appeal.
Sure! Except for when I do it, and then I would like a pass... It is really easy to demand justice for the other guy, but we still fuss we get caught speeding or running a red.
Your hypothetical scenario is certainly a horrible situation, and it would be best if the perpetrator were to be caught and sentenced to a suitable punishment. I am sure that atheists, theists, poly theists, and every other shade of belief will agree to this.
However, if the perpetrator does get away with it, there is nothing to be done. We don't know who did it, there is no sense of closure, and as a survivor I would be angry.
This really has nothing to do with your stance on god-belief though. Theists can presume some sort of karmic retribution, but that doesn't mean that this sort of justice actually exists. It only means that theists WANT it to exist.
We can go one step further, and address your scenario using Christian theology. Let's assume all of that happens, the guy gets away, commits five similar crimes, gets away with those as well, the. Converts to Christianity on his death bed.
Under most Christian belief systems, the perpetrator goes to heaven. Where is the justice in this scenario?
Addressed to the OP:
Yes. As alluded to in the quote appearing above, multitudinous prisoners around the world (over the ages) who are in prison for heinous & even the most-heinous crimes became Christians in prison and, as a result, they expect that they are exonerated from any wrongdoings in their final outcome when they leave this life behind (I could research it and bring up a long list of examples but one example from contemporary times is David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam" serial killer).
Does THAT do anything whatsoever to bring "justice" to the multitudinous victims of the multitudinous committers of the abominable crimes of these prisoners-turned-Christians? Should I even have to ask this question? Would the OP even have the unmitigated gall to suggest that "all is well" and "the demands of justice have been served" because these perpetrators of horrific crimes accepted Jesus and should now be looking forward to their reward in heaven (yet someone that they may have raped or killed, before they were killed, may not have had a chance yet to learn of and accept Jesus before their death at the hands of the criminal . . . so now said victim has gone on to eternal hell and yet the criminal who raped and killed the rapist/murderer will go to heaven)? Wow, that's a really just system-of-justice you folks have conceived . . . . . . . . NOT!!!
We are not talking about morals. We are talking justice. Do Atheists believe in the concept of Justice?
I think there can be justice. Wrongs can be made right, to the best of their ability, and people can learn from their mistakes as they make them. To me, that's justice. A murder who is sent to prison, released, and never hurts anyone ever again: thats justice. Someone does something to harm another (that is not illegal), they apologize, and move on: that's justice.
Some offer false justice, often in the law, but in other places as well. Drug users going to prison: not justice. People being executed and never offered a chance of retribution: not justice.
I don't believe all wrongs are made right, but I believe all wrong CAN be made right. Sometimes, justice is missed. That's life. Some wrongs go unanswered, and the severity of those wrongs vary greatly. Someone dings your car and you never find out who... someone kills 100 people and is never found. But, justice can and does happen, we just need to make sure we THINK about it some. Justice should be about making things right and as good as we can possibly make them, not just about making us feel better or getting revenge (as revenge and justice are not the same thing).
Yes. As alluded to in the quote appearing above, multitudinous prisoners around the world (over the ages) who are in prison for heinous & even the most-heinous crimes became Christians in prison and, as a result, they expect that they are exonerated from any wrongdoings in their final outcome when they leave this life behind (I could research it and bring up a long list of examples but one example from contemporary times is David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam" serial killer).
Does THAT do anything whatsoever to bring "justice" to the multitudinous victims of the multitudinous committers of the abominable crimes of these prisoners-turned-Christians? Should I even have to ask this question? Would the OP even have the unmitigated gall to suggest that "all is well" and "the demands of justice have been served" because these perpetrators of horrific crimes accepted Jesus and should now be looking forward to their reward in heaven (yet someone that they may have raped or killed, before they were killed, may not have had a chance yet to learn of and accept Jesus before their death at the hands of the criminal . . . so now said victim has gone on to eternal hell and yet the criminal who raped and killed the rapist/murderer will go to heaven)? Wow, that's a really just system-of-justice you folks have conceived . . . . . . . . NOT!!!
I had some mistypings in my boldfaced/underlined comments above. The boldfaced parts of the quoteappearing above have been corrected below and should instead correctly read as follows:
(yet someone that they may have raped and then killed, before they were killed, may not have had a chance yet to learn of and accept Jesus before their death at the hands of the criminal . . . so now said victim has gone on to eternal hell and yet the criminal who raped and killed the female or male victim will go to heaven)? Wow, that's a really just system-of-justice you folks have conceived . . . . . . . . NOT!!!
ETA - I know lots of people covered this later in the thread, but it looks like it hasn't sunk in so I'll leave it here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCardinals
OK. Understood. There is no after life or "cosmic" justice in the Atheists point of view.
That's not accurate. There are religions which don't worry about gods but do have opinions about the afterlife.
Quote:
If both the wrong doer and the victim are alive but the wrong doer is able to dodge the local justice system, or an innocent person is wrongly convicted (say 50 years prison) for something he didn't do - how does Atheism look at these scenario?
You keep confusing atheism - a lack of belief in one single thing - with a belief system. It isn't. There's no single atheist answer for any of these questions.
OK. Understood. There is no after life or "cosmic" justice in the Atheists point of view.
And again, this is not an argument based conversation. I am not trying to prove anyone right or wrong. Only asking for my own knowledge.
If both the wrong doer and the victim are alive but the wrong doer is able to dodge the local justice system, or an innocent person is wrongly convicted (say 50 years prison) for something he didn't do - how does Atheism look at these scenario?
There is no atheism to do the looking. There is no atheist pope laying down "official" atheist dogma.
*This* atheist would say that both your scenarios are unjust, but they can - and should - be rectified if at all possible. I'd love to think that just about everyone, atheist or not, would feel the same way.
OK. Understood. There is no after life or "cosmic" justice in the Atheists point of view.
And again, this is not an argument based conversation. I am not trying to prove anyone right or wrong. Only asking for my own knowledge.
If both the wrong doer and the victim are alive but the wrong doer is able to dodge the local justice system, or an innocent person is wrongly convicted (say 50 years prison) for something he didn't do - how does Atheism look at these scenario?
You OP question is misguided for various reasons that others have already pointed out, but I'd like to point out that "atheism" is not the same as claiming "there is no afterlife." Most atheists would see no reason to believe in an afterlife, but technically there it would be perfectly possible to have an afterlife even if God does not exist (although it might depend on how you define 'God' - which is another big issue). Along the same lines, even if God exists, it is possible that God is unjust. Anyway, I'm going to re-state your question in a way that I think comes closer to what you are really trying to ask:
"Assuming that there is no afterlife, what kinds of justice can exist?"
One quick answer would be karma. You don't have to believe in God to believe in karma. Like most atheists, I don't believe in God or karma, but my point is that these are separate concepts.
Notice there are many kinds of (or definitions of) 'justice'. I don't know what definition or type of justice you have in mind, but I will assume, for now, that you mean something like "an eye for an eye." But you are also talking about justice in a way that implies a kind of "cosmic balance" that can reach beyond the grave. In other words, you seem to think that there is no justice if it is possible for someone to escape punishment by sheer luck, or by dying before they can be punished. I, on the other hand, think that the concept of justice only makes sense in the context of relationships between living people. So, as I see it, the answer is "yes" - there certainly can be justice without an afterlife. There is, however, no guarantee of justice. Justice can exist, even if there is no guarantee that it will always take effect in each an every instance of wrong-doing.
I believe that we live in a world that contains genuine risk. There is no guarantee that everything will work out for the best. In such a world, things happen, but they don't necessarily always happen for the best. I think that life is messy because Existence Itself is ultimately kinda messy.
Reality works more like a growing/evolving organism seeking to create purpose via living; it is not a perfect machine predesigned for a precise purpose.
There is "hope" for believers who were victims but couldn't get justice in this life. And there is hope that perfect justice will be rendered.
Whether this "hope" of believers is true or not, is a matter of faith. No one can prove it right or wrong. It's just faith BUT, there is "hope".
And not to offend anyone but, Atheists are hopeless. Matter of fact, there shouldn't be any concept of "hope" for an Atheist. Is this correct?
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It is really easy to demand justice for the other guy, but we still fuss we get caught speeding or running a red.
