Of the Two Classes of Human Good

There are two classes of goods for human beings: one, the good that, when it is used up by one man, comes out of the good of another; and the other class of good is that which, when one man has it, it does not decrease from anyone else, and even benefits others. A man receiving food stamps or government assistance (and I am not arguing against such programs) is paid his livelihood out of the tax base that others provide. We cannot give the man government assistance without it coming out of the wealth of someone somewhere else. But say, for instance, Dickens writing David Copperfield was a good for him; it gave him not only the pleasures of fame and wealth, but the pleasure of writing a good novel, and the satisfaction found therein. At the same time, the writing of his novel only adds to the benefit of those who enjoy the reading of it, and costs no one anywhere a loss. Those who read it enjoy the novel and are better for it being in existence. Thus there are goods that, when enjoyed by some, are to the benefit, rather than the detriment, of others who also enjoy them.

Faith in God is in this second class of goods; allying oneself to God gives a man the benefits from faith and--perhaps--even eternal reward, if God exists. But it does not mean this good is subtracted from the good of anyone else; on the contrary, it means one more man placing his vote on the categorically good principle of the world--God--and can only mean goodness for the rest of the world, as much as for him. Why not, then, take the good that faith in God provides, when it is guaranteed not to detract from the good of all else, but in fact adds to it?