My assumption in this question is that you hold the bible to be the christians' moral guide. The bible is one of the most violent, obscene books ever written. The first 5 books alone are nothing but this "god" killing off groups of people. Infanticide, genocide, rape, and torture are all prevalent throughout. Intolerance (only one example) in the form of heavy anti-semitism, appears throughout both the old and new testaments. Why couldn't the commandments involving adherence to this "god" be thrown out? I think society would benefit greatly from a commandment or two against any violent acts that were deemed less important then this created "god" and his jealousy. What kind of moral compass does this provide?
Morality is very evident in nature. It is not a christian trait, and is biologically imprinted in our brains. Murder, stealing, and general disobedience are not allowed within species of animals. Tell me, do they have access to your christian bible, and are they now educated on the christian standard of moral living?
Based on atheists that I know, atheists tend to be more concerned with what happens in this life, as opposed to those who identify strongly with any given religion who might be more concerned with the next life (afterlife) than this one. Some who are religious, in my experience, have been self-righteous hypocrites who don't practice what they preach. So, in my opinion, atheism no more brings about immorality than religion brings about morality.
I believe it does. Because there is a lot of things that are immoral besides what people automatically think. Besides murder and stealing and rape and so on, there is also sexual immorality, gossiping, stealing time on the company clock, little things like that that people do not really consider immoral, but in fact, are. When you do not believe in any god whatsoever, most people will not have a conscience about these little things. They will feel that it is no big deal and will feel that "everyone does it, why can't I?" "Everyone has premarital sex nowadays" that is a big one. But actually when you engage in sex without a committed partner having one night stands or only keeping a partner for a few weeks before moving on to another one, you are disrespecting yourself and that is having no morals when it comes to sexuality. Having no god at all takes people's inhibitions away and they are more inclined to making the wrong choice.
Well, being "saved" is a form of enslavement to the belief system required for the saving. But to the point of the question.... Those who are "saved" tend to be... I think... Of a more "moral" character with regards to how they treat others because if they werent, they would lose their place with the "master".
I don't think atheism inherently brings about immorality. (I'm not speaking from the POV of being an atheist although I sometimes dabble in non-belief because it makes me feel better).
But I think there is something inherently sort of dignified about having belief. That's cos as an individual for some reason I take it to be more natural to believe in something than in nothing. And so I feel that one is aligning oneself with what's natural. And which happens to also correspond with wanting to be good and kind.
Atheism doesn't have to inherently imply the non-belief in goodness, morality, decency, properness and morality. But it (- atheism) is at a sort of a disadvantage because, it can so easily be rendered into something which supports moral-laxness. If you don't believe in an afterlife and meditate a lot on that lack of belief, surely it can only bring a higher willingness to do naughty/inadvisable stuff. Because one would think one could get away with it.
Actually it is the christians who bring the bible into it when they talk about the origins of morality. I fail to see how the bible can be used as guidance on moral choices, the dogmas of the bible are horribly and fatally flawed for any normal society, they are founded upon a paternalistic, punishment-centered and an anti-logical mind set that would enslave all of us in the name of "saving" us.
Absolutely yes! Atheism's poster boys are hitler and stalin who between them murdered 30million+ people.
With out religion you live by a corrupted rationale, stress at every problem, for ever frighthened of car accidents, disease, crime. You eat and drink too much, are probably racist, always making poor decisions and unable to determine the correct course of action when you need to.
Had enough...think about this...all of the advanced civilisations on this planet had a belief system. Why? Theism is programmed into man, it is a part of his mind, body and soul. Without a well fed soul you are living a lie.
Not at all. Are there immoral atheist? Of course, but there are an equal number of immoral people of faith. It comes down to being human. I believe the majority of the people on this Earth are good people. They are will to help people more than help. There are those few in every group though that will cause more harm than good.
