Can Atheists have morals?

[nimue77]

Do you believe everything your religion tells you?

FYI, the earth is approximately 4-6 billion years old. Also, and this may come as a shock to you, macro evolution is not a theory but a fact.

you believe everything science "tells" you?

 

[mudbone]

plenty of people do bad things in the name of religion. plenty of ministers, preachers, etc have done things privately that they have condemed publically...does mean the christian message is not true.

if i dont like my math teacher's personality or if he is rude...that doesnt cahnge the fact that 2+2=4.

No doubt, Blue, no doubt.

I'm just trying to point out that there's a ton of people who profess the faith that are more dangerous to society than atheists like me {not that I have never been wrong}.

When I was about 19, I told my parish priest I didn't believe in God. Obviously, he wasn't overly enthused to hear this and after a two hour argumentative conversation, he left me with this: "You can forget everything else you learned, but if nothing, practice the Golden Rule - "treat others the way you would like to be treated {paraphrase by MB}".

And call this faith or what you will but I believe that is the best way to live.

There's a lot of the Christian message promulgated in the Catholic church i believe to be completely dogmatic and irrational - such as it is wrong to practice birth control, it's okay to elect a pope who advocated suppressing evidence of child molestation charges against priests to protect the supposedly greater good of the church {in the USA, that's called obstruction of justice}. I could go on to name a whole lot more.

Btw, I saw in some posts a short while back and see where you recently brought a child into this world - nothing but the best to you and your family and hope you have the oportunity to raise the child in a more moral world.

 

[edub69]

another one........masturbation......is it inmoral? will I damage mankind by doing it???? is it inmoral according to the religions of the world ?

If masturbation is wrong, I don't want to be right.

 

[blueedwards]

Do you believe everything your religion tells you?

FYI, the earth is approximately 4-6 billion years old. Also, and this may come as a shock to you, macro evolution is not a theory but a fact.

evolution is a fact? wow, never knew that. ok, strike everything i said.

 

[blueedwards]

No doubt, Blue, no doubt.

I'm just trying to point out that there's a ton of people who profess the faith that are more dangerous to society than atheists like me {not that I have never been wrong}.

When I was about 19, I told my parish priest I didn't believe in God. Obviously, he wasn't overly enthused to hear this and after a two hour argumentative conversation, he left me with this: "You can forget everything else you learned, but if nothing, practice the Golden Rule - "treat others the way you would like to be treated {paraphrase by MB}".

And call this faith or what you will but I believe that is the best way to live.

There's a lot of the Christian message promulgated in the Catholic church i believe to be completely dogmatic and irrational - such as it is wrong to practice birth control, it's okay to elect a pope who advocated suppressing evidence of child molestation charges against priests to protect the supposedly greater good of the church {in the USA, that's called obstruction of justice}. I could go on to name a whole lot more.

Btw, I saw in some posts a short while back and see where you recently brought a child into this world - nothing but the best to you and your family and hope you have the oportunity to raise the child in a more moral world.

thanks mudbone. the idea that i am responsible for her is very compelling. we will certainly do our best to raise her well. i'm sure we will screw some things up but hopefully, she will understand what is important in life.

 

[blueedwards]

But if I don't believe in the christian bible then I don't believe in satan either, so the satanic bible is equally irrelevant to me.

dont expect either bible to mean much to you...just thought you might be interested to know that you are living by the satanic creed.

 

[wolfie_cr]

"My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason thinking I shall ever change them"

Abraham Lincoln

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb or a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter"

Thomas Jefferson

"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies"

Thomas Jefferson (Again)

 

[wolfie_cr]

"living by the satanic creed" :lolBIG: , get in line, we are going to burn you for your sins

 

[Illini]

But how do we define what is good?

Blue, good question. If I found out tomorrow that there is no God, I wouldn't be married for one, I would stop helping people in need, get drunk and start doing a lot of other stuff that the Bible says is not moral.

I don't know about that, are you sure? So you're basically saying that you would rather live a life of partying and shallowness, but you choose to stay with your wife because it's the right thing to do? I'm a searching agnostic that is wrestling with Christianity. Your version of the Christian life sure doesn't make someone in my shoes look at that life as appealing, if the desire of your heart is to chuck the whole thing and get drunk. I don't think you mean that statement, do you?

 

[Illini]

I believe the Bible is the word of God and if you live by what the Bible teaches you will live a satisfying and rewarding life. I am guided by what is right and wrong according to what is in the Bible.

I believe that man is not the ultimate authority in what is right and wrong. I guess that's where I differentiante from an atheist.

Which is it, bro? Is following God awesome and satisfying and rewarding? Or is it boring and leaves you wanting to leave your wife and get drunk? One or the other, I guess.

 

[blueedwards]

Which is it, bro? Is following God awesome and satisfying and rewarding? Or is it boring and leaves you wanting to leave your wife and get drunk? One or the other, I guess.

not to speak for tt but what i think tt may have meant is:

if there is no God...there are no moral absolutes. if there are no moral absolutes, then there is no "right way" to live. if there is no right way, your conscience wont haunt you no matter what you do because, if there is no right way, there is no wrong way either. therefore, one would likely not ever feel bad about any action and just do whatever is natural or suiting at the time...like animals do.

 

[edub69]

dont expect either bible to mean much to you...just thought you might be interested to know that you are living by the satanic creed.

But if I view Satan as a man-made construct, why would I be interested in that? Thanks for looking out for me though.

 

[blueedwards]

But if I view Satan as a man-made construct, why would I be interested in that? Thanks for looking out for me though.

you know i got your back

 

[wolfie_cr]

"If I found out tomorrow that there is no God, I wouldn't be married for one, I would stop helping people in need, get drunk and start doing a lot of other stuff that the Bible says is not moral."

geeshhhhhhh no wonder man had to come up with religions, otherwise we would be drunk, not care for our offspring and etc etc.............

"if there is no right way, there is no wrong way either" there sure is something called "a better way"

instead of trying to put a bullet in your brain I could choose NOT to, your family could try to do the same thing to me later on

instead of allowing people to die out of starvation I could choose NOT to allow that from happening

supose for a minute that there was something in religion that would say "you should not break your arm" then someone could claim that without religion noone would have a reason NOT to break their arm, so without religion we are all destined for pain......

similarly most if not all of these moral dilemma are equally trivial when you consider what happens when you don't follow moral.............

you could say.......we would all turn to drinking and drugs like truthteller would without his beliefs......well the fact that all the atheists in the world are not in the bar dying certainly defeats that logic.......

common logic is a far better attempt at moral dillema than a book that may or may not hold ideas that are relevant to this era and end up giving us "absolutes" that later on are deemed obsolete

 

[VeNuS]

Honestly I think morals have nothing to do with religion.
Moral, is an assembly of concepts and beliefs by which an individual determines if its acts are correct or incorrect. Often, these concepts and beliefs are generalized and codified in a culture or group, and therefore serves for regular the behavior of its members.
It is definitely related to ethics, not to religion... don´t you think so?

Bitey

 

[blueedwards]

"If I found out tomorrow that there is no God, I wouldn't be married for one, I would stop helping people in need, get drunk and start doing a lot of other stuff that the Bible says is not moral."

geeshhhhhhh no wonder man had to come up with religions, otherwise we would be drunk, not care for our offspring and etc etc.............

"if there is no right way, there is no wrong way either" there sure is something called "a better way"

instead of trying to put a bullet in your brain I could choose NOT to, your family could try to do the same thing to me later on

instead of allowing people to die out of starvation I could choose NOT to allow that from happening

supose for a minute that there was something in religion that would say "you should not break your arm" then someone could claim that without religion noone would have a reason NOT to break their arm, so without religion we are all destined for pain......

similarly most if not all of these moral dilemma are equally trivial when you consider what happens when you don't follow moral.............

you could say.......we would all turn to drinking and drugs like truthteller would without his beliefs......well the fact that all the atheists in the world are not in the bar dying certainly defeats that logic.......

common logic is a far better attempt at moral dillema than a book that may or may not hold ideas that are relevant to this era and end up giving us "absolutes" that later on are deemed obsolete

come on wolfie...saying there is a "better way" is the same as saying there is a "right way". you are making a judgement about the action. which is, of course, what you should do. you have a moral code that is hard-wired into you. you know what is wrong and what is right. you dont always choose what is right but when you dont, you know that you didn't. you can rationalize the choice in a hundred ways but, deep down your conscience knows...

if you walk by a house that is on fire and a little child is screaming from a window...and it is within your power to save that child without injuring yourself, is it wrong to let the child burn to death? of course it is. is this a moral absolute? would any culture or time in history reverse this and say it is fine to let the child burn?