Can Atheists be Moral?

[Grumblenuts]

Can theists self-reflect?

 

[Meriweather]

I think it’s funny, in a mordant sort or way, that folks such as you spend your lives in trembling fear of angry gods, devils, satans waving a pitchfork and other absurdities.

Yes, but be aware the majority of Christianity does not think along those lines. In the decades I have been a Catholic, I've heard hell mentioned in homilies three times. Christ focused on how discerning the word of God and following it; a belief that turning away from sin grants forgiveness from God; and how to get along in the close communities to which we belong--family, neighborhood, work and school environments, and to love the people in them.

 

[anynameyouwish]

Do atheists think this is funny?

View attachment 262320

yes.

 

[anynameyouwish]

This is stupid. The "run of the mill" atheist simply does not accept a belief in any gods. You are just vomiting whatever pleases your own ears and fetishes.

It is stupid. I'm not complaining about atheists beliefs, per se but about the hubris and superior smugness many atheists display in places precisely like this one.

It's often not enough just to say I believe this or that. They have to ridicule and belittle while they are about it.

"It's often not enough just to say I believe this or that. They have to ridicule and belittle while they are about it."

so it bothers you that some atheists behave like many conservative christians?

it bothers you that some atheists behave like trump?

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

"It's often not enough just to say I believe this or that. They have to ridicule and belittle while they are about it."

so it bothers you that some atheists behave like many conservative christians?

it bothers you that some atheists behave like trump?

There is no Christian equivalent to talk about a magical sky fairy or the meme of Jesus holding a dinosaur in his arms.
Atheists can be moral, perhaps. They just don't want to be when it's so much fun to ridicule and laugh at the beliefs of others. They seem to be perpetually frozen in time with the maturity level of jr. high schoolers.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Can theists self-reflect?

Answer: No, but they sure can project!

 

[BreezeWood]

* they would rather do away with the forged documents of all three desert "religions" - altogether ...

That's what commies do. Are you a commie? You've already stated what they do in the Communist Manifesto.

.

* they would rather do away with the forged documents of all three desert "religions" - altogether ...

That's what commies do. Are you a commie? You've already stated what they do in the Communist Manifesto.

I would say they are not that specific however the goal to rid society of cancerous religions is correct. that does not require being a communist.

the religion of antiquity as prescribed by the Almighty is one sentence long ... your false christian religion is a 10000 page forged document that recorded history demonstrates as being an uninterrupted conquest of persecution and victimization of the innocent and is one of the reasons for the establishment of the communist manifesto. is correct.

 

[Hollie]

"It's often not enough just to say I believe this or that. They have to ridicule and belittle while they are about it."

so it bothers you that some atheists behave like many conservative christians?

it bothers you that some atheists behave like trump?

There is no Christian equivalent to talk about a magical sky fairy or the meme of Jesus holding a dinosaur in his arms.
Atheists can be moral, perhaps. They just don't want to be when it's so much fun to ridicule and laugh at the beliefs of others. They seem to be perpetually frozen in time with the maturity level of jr. high schoolers.

There is no historical evidence to suggest that religious people are any more “moral” than non-believers relative to Christianity or any other religion. Let's remember that religions have been the impetus for war, conquest and among the most horrendous acts of cruelty.

As to ridicule directed at believers, well, yes that happens. Reading the rants of the literalist, fundamentalist, Ken Ham dinosaur park addled, science loathing thumpers in various threads is actually scary.

It doesn’t take long to become concerned with those who spend their lives in abject fear of angry gods and have the Believe this, or be eternally, forever, always and from now until never – marshmallow in Hell, worldview

You don’t quite get that same message from the Illiad, do you? It's intended as a fictional retelling, and few people debate its relative accuracy. But plenty of people think Bibles and korans and Mafioso Books of the Dead do relate an accurate worldview, and that opinion crosses into social constructs, and those social constructs impact individuals freedoms. It leverages political decisions. It lends weight to laws that are developed and implemented.

 

[danielpalos]

dear women, i have a Happy camper policy; how ethical is that.

 

[Hollie]

dear women, i have a Happy camper policy; how ethical is that.

That depends.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

There is no historical evidence to suggest that religious people are any more “moral” than non-believers relative to Christianity or any other religion. Let's remember that religions have been the impetus for war, conquest and among the most horrendous acts of cruelty.

Let's also remember that religion has been responsible for great healing, acts of kindness, charity and love.
The three greatest murderers of the 20th century, Mao, Stalin and Hitler, were all anti religious zealots.
Was Hitler a Christian?
In case you were going to claim Hitler was Christian, the record shows that no, he wasn't despite giving it some lip service as he rose to prominence.

As to ridicule directed at believers, well, yes that happens. Reading the rants of the literalist, fundamentalist, Ken Ham dinosaur park addled, science loathing thumpers in various threads is actually scary.

Thank you. That's been my only point. If atheists wish to be seen as the moral alternative to religion they might wish to
let some of their more hate filled brethren know stomping on other's dearly held views (regardless of whether you find them absurd or not) does not do much for your case.
Sam Harris is respected so much, in part, because he holds up a flag for atheism (which I respectfully disagree with) without ever resorting to childish inane mockery. How does he do it?
He simply never cheapens his own arguments with juvenile hijinks.

It doesn’t take long to become concerned with those who spend their lives in abject fear of angry gods and have the Believe this, or be eternally, forever, always and from now until never – marshmallow in Hell, worldview.

I've seen this up close and reject this corruption of what Christianity is supposed to be.

You don’t quite get that same message from the Illiad, do you? It's intended as a fictional retelling, and few people debate its relative accuracy. But plenty of people think Bibles and korans and Mafioso Books of the Dead do relate an accurate worldview, and that opinion crosses into social constructs, and those social constructs impact individuals freedoms. It leverages political decisions. It lends weight to laws that are developed and implemented.

Religious literalism is a problem that has plagued man kind for centuries. But generation by generation
we have seen more moderating views come to the forefront and the mainstream views of just fifty years ago are now
seen as out of step with much of society.
Atheists have their hard liners too. It's human problem, not a religious one.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I have forgotten more science than you ever knew

No ding. I know you like to dance and prance and say this, but you say very dumb things about science.

Militant atheists like yourself are the antithesis of open mindedness.

You also love that "militant" term. You embarrass yourself every time you use it. "Militant" to you is anyone who doesn't accept your preferred magical fetish. Which, of course, makes you the ideological "militant". But, being the dishonest fraud you are, you think you provide cover for yourself by accusing others of that of which only you are guilty. You know, like 5 year old does.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Let's also remember that religion has been responsible for great healing, acts of kindness, charity and love.

So those kind people would not have been kind, without their imagination telling them their sky daddy is telling them to be kind? That doesn't speak highly to their moral grounding. A better world will have people being kindto be kind, not in some tramsparent scam of an effort to preserve their imagined afterlife.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

So those kind people would not have been kind, without their imagination telling them their sky daddy is telling them to be kind? That doesn't speak highly to their moral grounding. A better world will have people being kindto be kind, not in some tramsparent scam of an effort to preserve their imagined afterlife.

Like most atheists you completely disregard the moral and ethical development of cave dwelling humans just a step up from wolves, lions and bears.
Without the moral constraint of a God what would cause me to not bash in someone's skull and take his mate and children as my own to improve my condition in a harsh nasty kill or be killed environment?
Who is there to stop me? All living together in nice cooperative harmony won't get me a woman or the children I need to help me in my daily struggle for mere subsistence.
It's certainly easier and more efficient to simply take what I would need to survive than
depending on the help, which or may not exist at the time, to get by somehow.

The threat of retribution for stealing someone's family from a God who can make thunder and fire would be a much more impressive deterrent and stick than the carrot of all living together in a Candy Land scenario where everyone just intuits that they must all be good and kind to each other, for some reason.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Without the moral constraint of a God what would cause me to not bash in someone's skull and take his mate and children as my own to improve my condition in a harsh nasty kill or be killed environment?

Haha,utter bullshit. We had already developed social behaviors, icluding empathy and cooperation. You are pulling things right out of your ass, now. What ape god do chimps worship, when they help each other and tend to their ill compatriots?

And your argument is stupid anyway. No longer are we ignorant, cave dwelling, isolated populations with no good transmission of culture and information. Now we can build on cumulative experience and knowledge and form much better morality than that possessed by ignorant, iron age goat herders. We dont need fake sky daddies to be moral (nor did we ever), and the morals we form through reason and scientific knowledge are far superior than those gleaned from our first and worst attempts at philosophy and morality, which is religion.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

Haha,utter bullshit. We had already developed social behaviors, icluding empathy and cooperation. You are pulling things right out of your ass, now. What ape god do chimps worship, when they help each other and tend to their ill compatriots?

Chimpanzees hunt in packs and tear each other to pieces, at times. Chimp attack doesn’t surprise experts
They are highly aggressive and territorial. Come out of your Candy Land fantasy world.

And your argument is stupid anyway. No longer are we ignorant, cave dwelling, isolated populations with no good transmission of culture and information. Now we can build on cumulative experience and knowledge and form much better morality than that possessed by ignorant, iron age goat herders. We dont need fake sky daddies to be moral (nor did we ever), and the morals we form through reason and scientific knowledge are far superior than those gleaned from our first and worst attempts at philosophy and morality, which is religion.

I am not talking about now, Poindexter, or didn't my example of cave behavior get through to you?
The point is God has always been a moderating force on human behavior whether you like it or not.
You like to imagine we have outgrown a need for a higher moral calling but looking around that obviously is not so.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Chimpanzees hunt in packs and tear each other to pieces, at times.

So do religious humans. We just had to mobilize against a band of genocidal religious freaks in syria and Iraq. And we can blame religion for much of that.

didn't my example of cave behavior get through to you?

It was a made up nugget of bullshit. I specifically addressed it. Maybe slow down, big guy.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

So do religious humans. We just had to mobilize against a band of genocidal religious freaks in syria and Iraq. And we can blame religion for much of that.

So do humans in general or have you not heard of the greatest mass killers of the 20th century?
Mao, Stalin, Hitler...not a fan of religion among them.

You frequently mention the damage religion has done but never mention the good it has also done. That's more than a little dishonest.

It was a made up nugget of bullshit. I specifically addressed it. Maybe slow down, big guy.

Well unless you think homicide is a modern invention and people never killed each other in pre history I think you are the one throwing out nuggets of bullshit.

And in matters of bullshit I always defer to the master...that being you.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

So do humans in general

Yes thank you. Wow, how can this possibly still happen, with all of these iton aged guides to morality floating about?

You frequently mention the damage religion has done but never mention the good it has also done.

That's not try at all. You are makong stuff up. . I think it was useful in organizing humans behind common causes. Then again, so was slavery. Just as we have moved past stone tools, its time to mobe past the childish nonsense that is religion. We have better tools now.

 

[ding]

No ding. I know you like to dance and prance and say this, but you say very dumb things about science.

We both know you can’t elaborate because everything I have written is true.