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Without a common bond, there is nothing to hold society together.
For example, there have been a number of wonderful suggestions regarding cutting back social welfare programs by members of this forum, such as families moving in with one another instead of receiving benefits; however, culturally, it's just not possible.
This country is becoming increasingly morally bankrupt. You can't really trust your family around another family because they lack the same moral compass or have no reason to ultimately have the self discipline to be humane.
If you don't believe in God, then ultimately there are no consequences. You can essentially get away with anything as long as you can get away with it. If I wanted to commit adultery with your wife, I could convince myself that it is human nature, and that no woman should be any man's possession. It is her free will that dictates who and what she does with her life.
That could very well result in you killing me in a murderous rage. If I were to believe in a higher power, specifically, the Christian God, I would not be able to justify sleeping with your wife. It would be flat out wrong, and if I were to do it, at the very least, I would feel incredibly guilty if I don't develop the self-discipline to control my actions.
What about racism?
I guarantee you it will increase dramatically as less and less people believe in Jesus Christ and abide by his words. There will be no love for one's brothers and sisters. Movements will arise, which will be accompanied by hatred, and murder.
I'm not sure people have the foresight to see what they are creating when they are taking Jesus out of people's lives.
It certainly isn't a world I would like to live in.
I had a hard time getting past the part where you said that cutting social welfare for people who need it would be "wonderful." How is it Christian to want the poor to suffer?
Kind of proves the point that if you don't know how to treat others, you don't lack religion; you lack empathy.
Personally, I do just fine without belief in a supreme being, because I have a conscience. Those who think society would crumble without religion are usually the ones who themselves need the religion to help them behave. Implicit in statements like these are the suggestion that it's the religious person who doesn't trust himself to behave if he didn't have a supreme being watching over his shoulder. Projection at its finest.
Honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to read the majority of your post. It's far too pretentious as you're far too intelligent to listen to anyone but yourself.
In other words, I'm going to stick my fingers in my ears.
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You've probably never done any physical labor in your entire life. I doubt you really have any idea how to relate to the common person because you've never been one.
Nice Christ-like attitude.
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Additionally, you're putting words in my mouth. Apparently, you're unfamiliar with the words of Jesus Christ, yet you feel compelled to act as if you speak for him and all Christians, which is ironic, because you have no idea what he actually said.
Perhaps, you should familiarize yourself with his words, so you at least know where I'm coming from before you respond in such a bigoted and ignorant manner.
I know he said not to judge others, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
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Maybe you could point out where Jesus talked about enslaving people or murdering "native" Americans.
He doesn't say that, does he?
Yet slavery and the slaughter of the Indians happened at the hands of "good Christians." It doesn't take a genius to know that a man who taught a message of love would not embrace the infliction of suffering on others.
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You also appear to be totally ignorant about economic development which requires child labor for economies to transfer out of a low levels of economic development into increasingly higher levels until technology really starts to replace labor capital. Maybe you hate the impoverished people of other countries and you don't want them to succeed because there is only so much pie to go around and you've been a fat cat for so long, you couldn't imagine giving up some of your pie.
And there you have it, folks. A self-professed Christian defending child labor. Those ingrates ought to be lucky we give them horrid sweatshop jobs in the first place. Where would they be without us? Sounds a lot like how "good Christians" justified slavery in the 19th century. Just think how bad off those slaves would have been if their masters hadn't given them three squares and a shack to live in.
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Also, if you would do some research you would find out that these "native" Americans went to war with one another, just as many other tribal societies throughout history have been at war with one another before, if ever, finding solidarity.
What in the world does that have to do with anything? Because they warred with each other, it was OK to steal their land and exterminate them?
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Why should I expect more? We live in a society of entitlement.
Takes one to know one.
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People think they know everything about everything.
Not too good at self-reflection, I gather.
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They believe they are omnipotent and are so arrogant that they could never believe that there is something actually above them that holds power over them.
I don't think any such thing. Whether there's something that "holds power over me" has no bearing on whether I act like a jerk toward others. Strangely, it's often those who believe in a higher power that prove to be the biggest jerks of all. Once again proving that it's not me that needs a god to make me behave.
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It is what it is. You're a product of society.
And you're a product of a society that's twisted a religion of love into one of judgment and hate.
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You elucidate my point. You can say whatever you want to say, but I see what I see and my eyes don't lie.
If I didn't believe in God or Karma or anything like that, I would absolutely live my life differently, as my values would change.
I would certainly be more inclined to follow society. I would probably try and emulate what I see on TV.
Why? You have no conscience? You can't think for yourself?
Proof once again that when Christians claim people abandon religion because they want to do whatever they want without consequences, it's all just projection. They're terrified that THEY wouldn't know how to behave. The rest of us manage to do just fine.
The majority of people also believe they are good people, yet they clearly don't care about the troops that come back missing limbs because if they did, they would send home the troops.
Christians would fight against these senseless wars in the first place.
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People's behavior shows where their true values lie.
Ain't that the truth.
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It's hard to be a Christian. It takes a tremendous amount of self discipline and sacrifice to be a Christian. These are not values that are espoused by our culture.
we've been getting along just fine for thousands of years without Christianity...
I, too, have been making this point, and it has gone unanswered.
If answered, though, I predict that it will be a response that cherry-picks some aspect of your or my self-identification, caricatures some supposedly unsavory aspect of it, and then holds that strawman up as "evidence" that "the unchurched" or "unbelieving" or "followers of false gods" live lives of terrible sadness, emptiness, misfortune and/or depravity.
It's a simple extension of a favorite trope: god gets credit for anything that goes right (outside of Christianity, it is his mercy, inside of it, his blessing) and take zero responsibility for anything that runs off the rails (that is all humanity's fault somehow -- even if it is Satan's doing, he can operate only by man enabling him by not standing up to his wiles).
I have always said that the Christian god is a great gig, if you can get it ... unlimited power, zero responsibility.
Re: 'I think that the OP forgets that more wars are fought in the name of religion then for any other reason. Even more so considering some Christians tend to start them in the name of their God'
Oohhh this is an interesting one ... For the thinkers among us! Like the canard about non-believers not having the capability of being 'moral'.
At bottom religion, politics and the state are usually always intertwined whether we like it or not. In some wars where religion figures can it be denied that it can be quite evident that the State also was a partner exercising pressure and a prolific inciter?
Any time religion is brought in on this issue one must make way for analyzing the politics of the situation. Even when fighting for 'God' it more often than not has its roots in the problems of wielding state power. Arguably religion here gets the kick in the pants. Really that's all more complicated than what is usually trumpeted about on this tired cliche.
I, too, have been making this point, and it has gone unanswered.
If answered, though, I predict that it will be a response that cherry-picks some aspect of your or my self-identification, caricatures some supposedly unsavory aspect of it, and then holds that strawman up as "evidence" that "the unchurched" or "unbelieving" or "followers of false gods" live lives of terrible sadness, emptiness, misfortune and/or depravity.
It's a simple extension of a favorite trope: god gets credit for anything that goes right (outside of Christianity, it is his mercy, inside of it, his blessing) and take zero responsibility for anything that runs off the rails (that is all humanity's fault somehow -- even if it is Satan's doing, he can operate only by man enabling him by not standing up to his wiles).
I have always said that the Christian god is a great gig, if you can get it ... unlimited power, zero responsibility.
you know the funny thing is we never had any crime, disrespect,or hatred for one another until Christianity came along and told us that we were nothing but savages and yet look what all of those good Christians have done to those who do not believe as they do. How many non-Christians have been slaughtered by Christians ?and they call us savages. maybe those so-called good Christians should take a good hard look at themselves.You think..
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