As an atheist, I actually really like this story. So many of my religious acquaintances cannot seem to understand that I/we do have a strong sense of morality and it doesn't require believing in God or some other deity.
The next time it comes up with them, tell.them this:
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You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.
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If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, that person is clinically psychopathic and a failure of a human being.
That is simply not true. It is in fact, one of the oldest false statements used by organized religion in an attempt to vilify Atheists.
I have never known a "morally deficient" Athiest to be in the news.
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I have however seen and heard about many very public "moral majority," focus on the family types get caught engaging in the very behavior that not only "they" as an organisation speak out against, behavior that they themselves have been publicly vocal about being against.
This is 100% truth, not all atheists are assholes that poke at others beliefs all day, some atheists can be the most generous and helpful people you could ever meet.
I think we need to recognize that religious folk and atheist folk are still people. And PEOPLE are the ones who have problems, not religion. But people are also the ones who can show the greatest kindness.
I see that too. But I'm in the camp of religion is intended to bring people together so I'm not sure how I feel about any religious teachings right now.
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I just shot down my original point didn't I?
Nahh, it's all intent versus execution.
For example, Marxist Communism wasn't that bad of an idea. Worth looking into to, if for nothing other than academic curiosity. What happened when the Soviets started to practice it however is another story entirely. One that history grad students have written doctoral thesises on.
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Many teachings in (most) religions have (some) philosophical merit to everyday life and the behavior of humans. Where it starts to fall down is when it istarts put into practice as a rigid system of beliefs where their's is the *only* truth.
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Consequently, that's why philosophical beliefs like Buddhism have splintered. There are some who practice it as a religion, (against the will of the Buddha I'll add) and some who are Atheists who practice it purely for the philosophy.
Christians aren't the only ones. Most organized religions have their extremists. Even Judaism, though their "extremists" tend to metaphorically self flagellate.
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· 8 years ago
realist - I know I'm repeating what Smitty said, but ALL religions teach this. Even Satanism. (I'm not a Satanist, but they basically say treat people right. They also say, if others don't treat you right then you can basically get rid of them. But that's for another lesson.)
According to the bible all that is required to go to heaven is belief in Christ and attempting to do good and if someone rapes a child then they are most likely not truly Christian
If your'e an atheist is doing good things, that's awesome. But, it still doesn't mean they get to go to heaven. And that's the only way you can ever really be happy. It legitimately scares me how many people don't believe in God. The way I see it, a good Chrstian doesn't hate Atheists, but is scared for them. And hey, maybe I misinterpreted the bible, but what I remember goes along the lines of love everybody
Just remember, the Christian bible is only one set of beliefs. If I don't believe in your belief system, then you're not scaring me by saying I'm not going to heaven. My belief system says ANYBODY who's good deeds out weighs their bad deeds is going to heaven.
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You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.
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If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, that person is clinically psychopathic and a failure of a human being.
I have never known a "morally deficient" Athiest to be in the news.
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I have however seen and heard about many very public "moral majority," focus on the family types get caught engaging in the very behavior that not only "they" as an organisation speak out against, behavior that they themselves have been publicly vocal about being against.
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/int/long.html
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I just shot down my original point didn't I?
For example, Marxist Communism wasn't that bad of an idea. Worth looking into to, if for nothing other than academic curiosity. What happened when the Soviets started to practice it however is another story entirely. One that history grad students have written doctoral thesises on.
.
Many teachings in (most) religions have (some) philosophical merit to everyday life and the behavior of humans. Where it starts to fall down is when it istarts put into practice as a rigid system of beliefs where their's is the *only* truth.
.
Consequently, that's why philosophical beliefs like Buddhism have splintered. There are some who practice it as a religion, (against the will of the Buddha I'll add) and some who are Atheists who practice it purely for the philosophy.