There is a higher power than society and the individual

 I am not confirming or denying the existence of a god or gods by posting this.  A lot of people who label themselves as atheists believe society is the highest power and that societal consensus could over rule or change the laws of physics and chemistry and determines reality itself.  Such knowledge would be given as example statements such as that we know ___ is true because the consensus of scientists say ___ is true which is different than saying the consensus of scientists have concluded blank is true because since blank really is true in reality there is over whelming evidence which when interpreted with proper reasoning confirms blank is true beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt and I can show you the evidence and explain the reasoning without referring to such and such scientists.  In this way society is like a mythical god to them.  Other people think that they themselves are like gods such that if they do not want something to be true or do not believe something to be true it will not effect them harmfully if they behave as though it is not true when it is really true in reality or behave as though something really is true when it is not true in reality.  The intentions of an individual are very important because they may determine their actions but the physical consequences of an action are not mitigated or changed based on someone's intention.  If someone has good intentions that will not prevent the physical harm from an action and if someone has malicious intentions that will not cause an action to be harmful in ways it would not be harmful if they did the same action with good intentions.  This does not mean I think individuals with good and bad intentions should be treated identically by society as the individual with good intentions when given proper knowledge is generally more likely to refrain from harmful actions in the future none the less that does not change the consequences of their actions they made when ill informed.  The real laws of physics and chemistry are a higher power than the consensus of society and the belief of individuals whether or not a god or gods exist.  Knowingly doing non defensive harmful actions to individuals without those individuals consent will harm the individual who performs such actions even if they are not caught and prosecuted by making the environment they exist in a worse place, however one may do good deeds or try to do good deeds without being rewarded if one lives in a society of malicious individuals who persecute people for good deeds, but in a society of sufficiently formed individuals who have good intentions good deeds will reward the individual by improving the environment they live in.

Copyright Carl Janssen January 11, 2021