Hey FrGamble!
September 30th, 2015 at 12:00:09 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Actually, lack of a belief doesn't inspire anything. The simple fact is, Xtions need an outside force like the Church to run their lives, to tell them what to do, what to believe, how to act, because they are incapable of doing so on their own. This is obvious when you talk to dedicated Christians. They are lost in the world without a moral authority looming over them, running everything. As an atheist, the most common emotion I run into from Christians about my atheism, is anger. They hate (HATE) that I don't need their crutch and live fine without it. What they want is for me to be just as dependent as they are, to not think for myself, to get all my guidance from a book, to be under their control as a 'brother', so they can judge me and tell me what to do. This is the reason atheists are hated by religious zealots of every kind. We're not drinking the Kool Aid and and it drives them bat dung up the wall crazy. But times are different now, we have a podium, religion can no longer burn us at the stake and cut our heads off. (in the West, anyway). And our numbers are growing exponentially. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 30th, 2015 at 12:37:57 PM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
I love dictionaries and use them frequently. But they are shallow and incomplete. What constitutes right and wrong, good and bad? How can one tell?
That's part of it, but far from all of it. And that's why there's a need for philosophy: to answer all such questions. Now, even before formal, systematized philosophy arose in Greece, there were people who thought about such things. The innovation of systematic philosophy, though, lies in the fact that each philosopher left us not only their conclusions, but also a record of their thoughts and/or explanations of their conclusions. Not coincidentally, most of them tackled the problem of ethics after, or alongside, other philosophical problems like those of physics (as in the nature of existence), epistemology (how do we know what we know), politics and even esthetics. Because all of that either determines ethics, or ethics determines it. Religion singularly fails at this. Everything is a revelation handed over by a deity, to be believed and obeyed without question. If something doesn't make sense, that's because the deity knows best and we don't understand it. It's an authoritarian imposition of rules derived from the prejudices and preferences of the men who wrote them, with a claim to absolute authority. In simpler terms, philosophy proposes and religion imposes. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
September 30th, 2015 at 1:01:02 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Very well said. Religion requires no thinking, that's been done for you. Your job is to trust those in authority, obey blindly, and give generously when it's time to tithe. You very seldom meet a stupid atheist, they had to arrive at their destination by actually thinking for themselves. Dumb people are very bad at that. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 30th, 2015 at 1:29:15 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
Yes the Church did sometimes act as if they were God and did what they wanted. I'm just glad you now see that basing your morality on what you want leads to atrocities. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
September 30th, 2015 at 1:31:39 PM permalink | |
TheCesspit Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 23 Posts: 1929 |
a) A higher power to create a morality is not a necessary to exist. Your belief that it should exist does not mean it DOES exist. b) People do what they want with or without a belief in a higher power. People ignore their moral codes ALL THE TIME. Hitler was not an atheist. Truman was a Christian, yet he believed it was right to drop the a-bomb. Did he wrestle with the decision? Sure. Did he do it? Yes, and his belief (or otherwise) in a higher pwoer morality didn't stop him doing a terrible thing. Thus atheism is not a necessary cause to do bad things. A lack of subscribing to a human morality is. That morality can come from many sources, and there is no reason to suppose that it has to come from God, or what God teaches via the Bible is objectively correct. It's just one (all be it in many cases, solid) moral code. Basically, people do bad things when they don't give a s$%^ about others. It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life |
September 30th, 2015 at 1:44:08 PM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
That's what I get for writing at the office with so many distractions. In brief, physics (or metaphysics depending on the period) and epistemology determine, in large part, what ethics are like. Ethics and the other two branches serve as guides to politics and aesthetics. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
September 30th, 2015 at 2:12:38 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
I'm basing my morality on what I believe is right. Just like you. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 30th, 2015 at 3:20:24 PM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
Thing is, without a God there would be no need for atheists. The President is a fink. |
September 30th, 2015 at 3:36:18 PM permalink | |
TheCesspit Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 23 Posts: 1929 |
Thing is, without a concept of God there would be no need for atheists. It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life |
September 30th, 2015 at 3:38:28 PM permalink | |
TheCesspit Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 23 Posts: 1929 |
The war on terrorism is often a war on the rights and freedoms of the liberal(*) democracy we expect to live in given the constitution and charters governments have signed up to in the past. It's not a war on the radical Islamists at all. Which is part of the problem. (*) Classical Liberalism, the one that the original Republican party was founded on.... not meaning liberal democrats :) It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life |