Atheist's have no morals
So I was in the car today reading out loud a passage from The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. It talked about why religion was regarded as so serious and offensive when people do political cartoons, and why people don't give a crap when politicians are made fun of. Anyways when I told my mom this she got into this big discussion about how basically atheist have no morals. And how religion gives people morals to behave. In total she said that most of the world's killers do not have any morals because they did not have a religion to follow morals, so they can kill anybody they want because nobody told them they were wrong. So she thought I was not a psychopath because I was raised on religous morals and I was not I would probably be one. I told my mom it is the exact opposite, because of religion we had people like the columbine killers or the Virginia tech shooter who believed they were god or that it was gods divine intervention to kill all these people. But of course my mom say's I do not understand enough about religion to part from it. That may be true, but at least I know I will maybe never by accepted as an atheist by my mom and I will never so anything horrible or crazy in the name of religion. I would like your feedback in how to deal with this issue with my parents or what your opinions on this are.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nelson on -
religion gives people morals to behave
oh does it? so then all of the violence done by people as a direct consequence of their religious beliefs is... what?
most of the world's killers do not have any morals because they did not have a religion to follow morals, so they can kill anybody they want because nobody told them they were wrong.
"most"? what about the rest? and is she seriously saying that while most of the planet is religious in some sense or another it's just the nonreligious who are murderers?
what about statistics that show that the countries that are the least religious are also the healthiest by any of several measures? what about statistics that show that the US states known to be "blue" states, that is, Democrat, are healthier according to similar measures while the "red" states, the Republican states, are less so- bearing in mind that everyone who knows anything about US politics knows that red states are by far the more religious (not just more religious but more conservatively religious, more given to following biblical morality!).
there are any number of psychological and cognitive studies showing that atheists answer moral questions along similar lines as do religious people while giving similar justifications for their answers.
moreover, there's the question of why anyone would think that religion provides us with morality when morality predates religion by millennium and, indeed, can be seen in primitive form in many animals!
finally, even allowing for a moment that Christianity does provide any kind of moral guidance, what sort of guidance is this really when the bible is filled with moral prescriptions that are plainly offensive to any modern moral sensitivity. the only way to derive morality from the bible is to pick and choose which verses to concentrate on and which to ignore! and by doing so the person has demonstrated that they have moral intuitions that exist apart from the bible, thereby disproving any belief in the bible being required for morality. and usually this is done by saying that some verse are to be taken literally while others, the disgusting ones, are to be taken metaphorically. no one explains how they know the metaphorical verses are indeed metaphorical except to believe, apparently, that because they would be disgusting if meant to be literal they MUST be metaphorical! how incredible a method for divining (so to speak) the truth!
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on -
Thanks for all the statistics and facts if I ever get into a conversation like this again I will present these facts and tell her how I have friends who were raised Atheist. And turned out to be better and understanding then most religious people turn out to be.
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Permalink Reply by Galen on -
Not worth arguing with your mom about it, dude. Really, not worth arguing with ANY religious person about it.
As for you not understanding religion well enough to part from it, I have to wonder if she has an in-depth knowledge of Islam, Judaism, Wicca, and all the other religions of the 3,000+ gods she rejects out of hand. Suppose I say to you that a talking purple elephant tells me how to behave. Do you really have to have an understanding of the elephant and his will before deciding that this is bullshit? Seriously now.
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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Well she has knowledge about religions, but not really how it effects people. This is why it is easier to talk to my dad, since he studies religion as being a professor in Social Studies.
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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Thank You! If I ever have children when I am older I would do exactly the same thing you would do. Let them explore religion and not judge them by it, and chose their own set of morals.
PS: I am also a twin too!
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Permalink Reply by Yet Another Atheist on -
Just point out the fact that the Bible has so many clear-cut examples of God's flawed and inconsistent morality, and point out that your own morality is a LOT better and higher than that of the God depicted in the Bible. You're better than God in terms of morals.
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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I know what you mean. My mom and I both watch that history channel TV show about the inaccuracies of the bible. And I think she knows the bible is f*cked up. But I guess she thinks the deeper meaning of it's morals or the less violent one's will help people become better citizens. Thanks for the comment and your right compared to my nice set of moral's, god in the bible was a freaking sadist!
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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Thanks for the suggestion. I agree with your views of course that the bible was probably written by some uneducated men back in the neolithic ages or right after that.
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Permalink Reply by Dennis Paul Renner on -
So often christians have already drunk the Kool Aid. Their is no point in causing a rift between you and your parents. Instead I suggest you offer up other opinions on the subject by a third party. Here is a video that you might have them watch.
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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Thanks! I will show this video to them when I have the chance.
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Permalink Reply by willailla on -
I'm an atheist and I have morals. I kill my victims humanely before I eat them.
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Permalink Reply by Justine Robinson on
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Very Funny!
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