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Today, the death penalty implies that a governing body handle it. Atheists don't want that as most prefer to have no rules or laws, at least those I've known. A good buddy who is an Atheist completely agreed with me that society is actually better for Atheists if it is made up mostly of religious people.
If it were not, then everyone would believe as Atheists and there would be chaos. With religion, the Atheists have an immunity in society to caring about many things - unless it somehow suits their belief system. If you're an Atheist in a society of Christians, for example, you are free to do as you please and color anywhere you like while all others are coloring only within the lines - to the best of their ability.
Don't be dumb. Most atheists don't want "to have no rules or laws".
I don't see how anyone could claim to be a spiritual person and condone killing people for, well, killing people. Obviously doing this is not sending any sort of message because violent crime continues unabated. That is beside the point though, two wrongs don't make a right.
Quoting Biblical scripture or any other scripture is also besides the point. We're talking about here and now, not the past. If you kill someone for killing someone (and this is just one crime that usually has a death sentence on it, there are a lot of other crimes that are in that category), then by that reasoning someone should kill the person who killed a person because then they also killed someone.
It is never ending. Really dumb, illogical reasoning. It's like saying "OK, you committed a terrible crime by taking someone's life, so we're going to take your life". Absolutely crazy rationale.
The rationale is this: life is precious. If you take a life, you must pay with your own.
Last edited by Horn of ‘83; 03-12-2024 at 12:39 PM..
Today, the death penalty implies that a governing body handle it. Atheists don't want that as most prefer to have no rules or laws, at least those I've known. A good buddy who is an Atheist completely agreed with me that society is actually better for Atheists if it is made up mostly of religious people.
Your opinion based claims are refuted by these of facts.
"There were 139,002 people in the U.S. federal prison system last year, and exactly 143 of them identified as atheists. Those*self-described atheists made up a mere 0.1% of the federal prison population." - http://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/in...on-population/
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick
Quote:
Originally Posted by N4t1ve
If it were not, then everyone would believe as Atheists and there would be chaos. With religion, the Atheists have an immunity in society to caring about many things - unless it somehow suits their belief system. If you're an Atheist in a society of Christians, for example, you are free to do as you please and color anywhere you like while all others are coloring only within the lines - to the best of their ability.
I totally agree with what you above regarding atheists in general. Most non-religious atheists are immune to the unethical dogmatic rules that certain religions have, and will freely choose to be compassionate and caring for other things, not because of fear of the punishment and/or that they are being forced by their religion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by N4t1ve
If it were not, then everyone would believe as Atheists and there would be chaos
And this demonstrates your lack of compassion and a moral compass. You've just admitted that you will no doubt commit immoral acts and choose chaos if you weren't being forced by society to obey the laws and rules that exist in your society.
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And this demonstrates your lack of compassion and a moral compass. You've just admitted that you will no doubt commit immoral acts and choose chaos if you weren't being forced by society to obey the laws and rules that exist in your society.
I am presuming from his posts that he is a christian. And all christians admit they are sinners, hence...
Today, the death penalty implies that a governing body handle it. Atheists don't want that as most prefer to have no rules or laws, at least those I've known. A good buddy who is an Atheist completely agreed with me that society is actually better for Atheists if it is made up mostly of religious people.
If it were not, then everyone would believe as Atheists and there would be chaos. With religion, the Atheists have an immunity in society to caring about many things - unless it somehow suits their belief system. If you're an Atheist in a society of Christians, for example, you are free to do as you please and color anywhere you like while all others are coloring only within the lines - to the best of their ability.
I think you're making a lot of assumptions based on a small sample size and a skewed interpretation of even that.
I grew up in an evangelical / fundamentalist household and my ethics / morals have changed not a whit since leaving the faith some 30 years ago. I wasn't objecting to the rules, I was (and am) abiding by them. I think that most of the rules promulgated as "Biblical" are basically the same rules that society enforces for entirely secular reasons. We don't have a Mosaic legal system, but a British Common Law system, after all. Most of use want to live in a reasonably civil society. In fact the ones who, over the past 20 years or so, seem most intent on breaking those societal rules ARE my former tribe -- the Christian Fundamentalists. They have taken leave of their senses, as far as I am concerned. They indulge in sins that could only be imagined in my youth. Embracing or excusing leadership with gross moral defects, in and out of the church, selling their very souls for temporal power. Disgusting.
No, what I objected to was the failed epistemology of religious faith, the notion of affording belief to things that are not just unsubstantiated, but unsubstantiatABLE. Yes the proximal thing that started me questioning things was the impedance mismatch between what my faith taught me to expect and what lived experience actually was. But that only got the ball rolling. Once thinking for myself, I saw the fundamental problem was a lack of correspondence between reason and belief.
Most of the atheists here are former Christians; many of them were quite devout and involved. We are not libertines and we are not ignorant of the truth claims of the faith. I studied them formally for a whole year of my life I will never get back, in fact.
As for "immunity from caring about things" ... I have no idea where that comes from. I care, probably too much, about too many things, but as a member of a small minority, what I can do about those things is pretty limited and not very actionable.
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