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If the only thing that keeps you from ”doing anything you want” is the fear of some supernatural father figure doling out punishment, that's a bit of a condemnation of your internal ethics, isn't it?
And why do you obey the law? Fear of your daddy the government doling out punishment?
I don't believe in hell. Or maybe as C.S. Lewis used to say, ”The doors of hell are locked on the inside.”
It isn't god locking you out of heaven. It is you locking yourself in hell. And for that matter, making a hell of Earth.
Atheism is materialism. Which is why atheism is almost inseparable from socialism. Atheism promises to give you everything you want. God promises you nothing(at least not in this life).
Fundamentally, religion is just philosophy. But it is a peculiar form of philosophy since it considers things beyond this world. And because its primary focus is not of this world, it changes the way we view this world. To the atheist, this is all there is. Whereas for the theist, this is merely a step towards where we're going.
If this world is all there is, then the atheist is either caught in the self-destructive, if not suicidal throes of nihilism, or subsumed by utopianism. If utopian, he becomes obsessed with making ”Heaven on Earth”. He cannot wait for justice in another life, because there is no other life. Thus the greatest sinner is he who ”stands in the way of progress”. For he is causing immeasurable suffering, whether he intends to or even realizes it.
Society cannot exist without rules. You need order. Religion forms a society through shared values, a ”moral consensus”. Your behavior is not constrained by force, but by a common agreement about what is right.
Without religion, society is the arbitrary whims of the state. It is no longer a community of like-minded people, but rather a democracy of individuals, each trying to tyrannize each other by law.
The vacuum left behind by religion is always filled by the state. The Church and the State are opposites but also the same. Where there is no government, there is religion. And where there is no religion, there is government.
But unlike religion which forms a voluntary community which agrees on fixed moral certitudes, the state creates morality arbitrarily, either by edicts from its rulers, or by the majority. But why should you obey them? Why should you obey anyone? And what happens to society if no one obeys? What is society?
The materialistic man is drawn towards atheism because it promises to give him what he wants. What he doesn't realize, is what he thinks he wants won't make him happy. And the cost of atheism is either chaos or despotism. The atheist may throw off the shackles of religion, but he can never escape his chains. And in the end he will find them more burdensome and intolerable than ever.
And why do you obey the law? Fear of your daddy the government doling out punishment?
I don't believe in hell. Or maybe as C.S. Lewis used to say, ”The doors of hell are locked on the inside.”
It isn't god locking you out of heaven. It is you locking yourself in hell. And for that matter, making a hell of Earth.
Atheism is materialism. Which is why atheism is almost inseparable from socialism. Atheism promises to give you everything you want. God promises you nothing(at least not in this life).
Fundamentally, religion is just philosophy. But it is a peculiar form of philosophy since it considers things beyond this world. And because its primary focus is not of this world, it changes the way we view this world. To the atheist, this is all there is. Whereas for the theist, this is merely a step towards where we're going.
If this world is all there is, then the atheist is either caught in the self-destructive, if not suicidal throes of nihilism, or subsumed by utopianism. If utopian, he becomes obsessed with making ”Heaven on Earth”. He cannot wait for justice in another life, because there is no other life. Thus the greatest sinner is he who ”stands in the way of progress”. For he is causing immeasurable suffering, whether he intends to or even realizes it.
Society cannot exist without rules. You need order. Religion forms a society through shared values, a ”moral consensus”. Your behavior is not constrained by force, but by a common agreement about what is right.
Without religion, society is the arbitrary whims of the state. It is no longer a community of like-minded people, but rather a democracy of individuals, each trying to tyrannize each other by law.
The vacuum left behind by religion is always filled by the state. The Church and the State are opposites but also the same. Where there is no government, there is religion. And where there is no religion, there is government.
But unlike religion which forms a voluntary community which agrees on fixed moral certitudes, the state creates morality arbitrarily, either by edicts from its rulers, or by the majority. But why should you obey them? Why should you obey anyone? And what happens to society if no one obeys? What is society?
The materialistic man is drawn towards atheism because it promises to give him what he wants. What he doesn't realize, is what he thinks he wants won't make him happy. And the cost of atheism is either chaos or despotism. The atheist may throw off the shackles of religion, but he can never escape his chains. And in the end he will find them more burdensome and intolerable than ever.
It's like you are regurgitating stuff you have heard without really understanding what you are saying. You have no understanding of atheism. Zero.
Why no mentions of the religious in power now? Who voted for these fairy tale believing politicians?
Biden: Catholic
Harris: Baptist
Pelosi: Catholic
AOC: Catholic
Omar: Muslim
I have no issue with politicians being religious or being members of a Church or Synagogue or Mosque or whatever. I do have a problem if they try and force their religious beliefs on me via legislation. You’d think everyone would be in this camp since it protects all of us, but sadly there are those who believe their religious beliefs should be forced on us all. See every recent Republican anti abortion access bill if you need proof.
If this world is all there is, then the atheist is either caught in the self-destructive, if not suicidal throes of nihilism, or subsumed by utopianism.
No yeah, that’s where you started to go off the rails of reality.
Most nonbelievers are neither caught in a self destructive spiral of nihilism nor subsumed by a pointless striving for utopia.
I have no issue with politicians being religious or being members of a Church or Synagogue or Mosque or whatever. I do have a problem if they try and force their religious beliefs on me via legislation. You’d think everyone would be in this camp since it protects all of us, but sadly there are those who believe their religious beliefs should be forced on us all. See every recent Republican anti abortion access bill if you need proof.
This would leave you at odds with the atheists/Democrats who see no virtue in snuffing out human life.
And why do you obey the law? Fear of your daddy the government doling out punishment?
Depends on the law in question, I guess. For the big ones, empathy and the Moral Imperative seems to do the trick. It may be tempting to steal a bicycle to get home from the pub, but i recall vividly the emotions I had when my bicycle was stolen and I don't want to put anyone else though that. Also, it is not in my interest to live in a society where bike theft is accepted. So I walk. I don't need a supernatural entity for that to make sense.
Read some Kant. Behaving ethically is rational.
Quote:
Atheism is materialism. Which is why atheism is almost inseparable from socialism. Atheism promises to give you everything you want. God promises you nothing(at least not in this life).
You have a - how to put this generously? - very unique definition of atheism. It promises nothing. It is, in essence, an absence of something - in this case, faith. Every single other attribute you read into it is entirely on you.
Incidentally, "God promises you nothing in this world" is a weird thing to post before a page-long diatribes arguing how faith in a god improves life hugely - in this world. (One could be unsporting and bring up the very popular "prosperity gospel" as taught by some, but that would almost be too easy.)
I'll become more enlightened when someone builds an ark according to specifications given in Genesis 6, fills it with animals and enough potable water to last a year, and takes a year long voyage around the world in it.
LOL you believe that malarky.
Check it out. That museum ark they built in Kentucky well it took a huge team of men using modern power tools and having finished materials shipped to them and they still took two years.
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