It seems to me that society trusts people who want to be mothers, and who believe in love, and they think that if you do something terrible.. guilt should follow you for life.
So often we hear about people who see the faces of every person they've killed. We seen soldiers mentally handicap themselves after returning from war. They feel a guilt that follows them for life.
But I think the truth is that Christianity has instilled this into our culture so much in the past that our society has adopted it not just outside of the realm of just religion, but as a fundamental way that we as Humans should view eachother.
Why is it that the Human life has such value? When we consider the endless possiblities that we Humans have, it's so exciting. For now, sure, we live on this boring planet with boring politics, and technology isn't so sophisticated yet, but computing is a huge step in our evolution. It unites us into a single living mind. Knowlege is shared freely though this organism's mind, and we are united in such a way by the system of capitalism that we can achieve whatever it is that organism sets it's mind to.
Sadly the internet is in the infant stages of it's life. The younger generations have obviously caught on though, and as the older generations die out, and the younger take over, we will see society evolve.
Hopefully.. as the older generation dies out, so will Christianity, and as capitalism consumes the world as we have observed it is certainly doing, education will follow, and this should compound the exit of religion from our global society. This does beg the question though.. When we lose religion, will we slowly lose our Christian values? Will the fellow Human being start to seem less and less valuble?
The other problem that arises is the fact that our society is full of idiots, and if we allow the majority to rule using the power of the internet.. we might be handicapping ourselves into creating a social welfare society that takes care of the majority who can't seem to stop procreating for long enough to aquire any propper skills. This could be a problem.
When we consider just how much potential Humanity can have. When we imagine ourselves living on space stations orbiting saturn, or being space cowboys mining asteroids in the dangerous unpoliced quipper belt. When we consider some day having the technology to manipulate this universe in anyway we like.. it's quite exciting, don't you think? The limit will truly be creativity. The Universe will have became aware of itself, observed itself, and mastered itself.
I don't understand why people are happy sitting in their homes living their lives moment to moment. Living for love.. and socializing for the sake of socializing. I think the world will be a colder place without relgion, and it's values, but I don't believe it would be less civil. There are other ways to manipulate fellow Humans into being good than using simple guilt. Frankly speaking.. I really think it's perhaps that we are all born sociopaths.
Luna for president 2050! 
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Cheers for the topic.
Questioning the human value can be a touchy subject, but it's also an interesting one. It's safe to assume that most people value their own lives, so it is not too hard to see why they would value other people's lives. For many, their own life is more valuable than a stranger's. The reason is logical: if they die, they lose everything, if someone else dies, they don't lose everything.
One can approach the problem from different angles, though. For example, one could argue that a stranger's life is as valuable as their own because the stranger is no different from themselves. One could also argue that all life is equal, even the less intelligent life.
Another way to approach the subject is from the collective point of view. Relying on pure arithmetics to solve the problem. The value of human life is the sum of happiness, money, advances in technology, sex, intelligence, productivity, or some other attribute(s).
Personally, I don't know what the value of human life is. I'd like to believe everyone is on equal grounds and has just as much right to live as the next person. The reason I choose to believe so is because I feel I am unqualified to evaluate the value of human life. I feel it's not up for me to decide what is the proper way to live, because the decision applies to everyone on such a personal level that I would feel like an intruder if I made that decision.
Yet, at the same, time I realize some decisions must be made. This is why I would choose to go with democracy. At least then most people will get to say what they think the value of human life is. I think everyone should have the right to an opinion and should have the right to voice it. Maybe the value of human life ends up being advances in technology and intelligence some day, when most people support it. If that time comes I'll be happy to go along with it.
A few extra notes on capitalism and religion:
Sweden (like most Nordic countries) is known for an advanced educational system and for having very firm roots in welfare. That's not to say that having a strong welfare system is the right way to go, but I think the nordic countries are interesting examples of countries that have established a working welfare system. Most Swedish people are also not very religious. Not compared to Americans, anyhow. I can see how making a quick transition from capitalism to socialism or from Christianity to Atheism could pose some problems, though. Especially if the country has been built with capitalism and Christianity.
What do you think?
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