All Blog Posts Tagged 'ethics' (20)

The Sanctity of Life

I heard that life is sacred, but I don’t know what that word means.

A woman outside a clinic told me that a tiny mass of cells was a person, but I didn’t think it looked like one. I heard her say that the bundle of cells was just what a person looked like when it was very small. She said it had the same genetic makeup and all of the same DNA as a fully grown person and therefore had the same right to life. I watched her scratch…

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Added by Joey on June 15, 2014 at 4:47pm — 14 Comments

On Religious Faith

Of course, science is not the enemy of religious faith. Sanity is. (ichbindaswortistich)

Over the ages, all religious pretensions, regardless of the respective faith of which they may have originated, have been disproved beyond any reasonable doubt. The earth is not flat but a sphere. The earth revolves about the sun, not vice versa. The earth is not the centre of the universe but a tiny planet in only one of myriads…

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Added by ichbindaswortistich on March 26, 2012 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Right without Religion

You do not need religion to be a morally or ethically "right" individual, let's put that out here in the open. This is for the communities that don't yet understand their religion is poisoning their world views. The people who publicly ridicule GLBT communities, the small towns where interracial couples are not accepted. Those special kinds of towns and cities where it is acceptable to fly the flag of the south, to openly support slavery, but if you support same-sex relations or…

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Added by Chris Martin on January 24, 2012 at 4:00pm — 2 Comments

FB Atheism

It's a common theme among those with faith. They say something that just makes you go 'Wait...what?'. I'm sure most of you have seen the video in these pictures. (if not, look it up, it's fantastic). My friend posted it on FB and I watched it and I noticed that a friend of hers had commented below. I responded in kind. It's a bit to read, but it was a civil conversation, if not a bit strained on my end.

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Added by Elisha K. on December 8, 2011 at 4:46pm — 5 Comments

Secularization Religiosity and Doctrine

Good afternoon everyone! I hope you’re all having a great day. Despite a rather shaky start to the day, everything is now going well and I just read a great article inThe Vancouver Sun, titled …

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Added by Brian Bridson on August 6, 2011 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Stop the NSCP - time to weigh in

As you know, I believe education is the key to beginning to solve all of the woes we have in society today. Yes all of them. From world hunger to population, from wars to disease, from terrorism to the production of clean and renewable energy. Each of these can be solved if we educate the people who are directly effected by them, and those who go into areas to help. In fact I can't think of one situation that cannot be made better without education, at least in the long term. Education should… Continue

Added by Martin Pribble on May 29, 2011 at 7:44pm — No Comments

Life, the universe, and everything

As an opener I'd like to state that my worldview has absolutely nothing to do with my atheism. I like to think that were I a theist I would still hold life, the universe, and everything in exactly the same regards. This post is not intended to answer any questions about nor explain my view on theism. Correlation does not imply causation. That being said, let us proceed.

Where did we…

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Added by A. Dave on May 1, 2011 at 11:42am — 3 Comments

Objective Morality or Ethics is Possible Without god

In the April 7, 2011 debate between Sam Harris and William Lane Craig regarding whether or not objective morality is possible without god, Craig refused to accept that an objective morality of this type is possible; in fact, he said that if there were no god, objective morality would be impossible. He believes this to such an extent that he believes the use of the terms moral or morality must be reserved to those actions based on belief in and adherence to a god – specifically, the god of the… Continue

Added by Brian Bridson on April 10, 2011 at 5:38pm — 20 Comments

Euthyphro's Question

“If you don’t believe in God, then what keeps you from murdering people?”

This has probably been the most persistent question I’ve gotten since deconverting to atheism. The question is, essentially, how can one be a ‘good person’ (or act morally) if there is no deity in which morality inheres. Of course, belief in God, in itself, is not what is being questioned, but whether or not that entity exists. None of the persons I have met would (as far as I know) claim that all… Continue

Added by Christopher Berman on May 23, 2010 at 4:30pm — 3 Comments

Pope's letter protects church, not its victims

The Pope’s letter on child sexual abuse holds lessons for civic society. What he writes to Catholics about religion is a matter between him and them. But the Catholic church also operates within civic society, acts as a quasi-State at the United Nations, and sends ambassadors to real States. And the Pope’s letter includes assertions about secular society that are factually wrong.

Having read the full letter, the following seems clear:

1. The Pope’s main priority is to… Continue

Added by Michael Nugent on March 22, 2010 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment

Hi, I'm a cherry-picker.

Warning: the following is a giant rant about Christians in a community college philosophy class in central Texas. If you are not in the mood to be mired in a massive pile of negativity, you may want to click your browser's back button.

I just got back from Ethics class, where the question of the day was, "Should same-sex marriage be allowed?" I wrote… Continue

Added by Shine on March 4, 2010 at 4:00pm — 18 Comments

Is abortion murder?

Before answering this question, it is imperative to truly define murder. To me, “murder” is an intentional, malicious act which serves to terminate the biological functioning of an innocent individual. Of course, this definition then begs the question of what exactly constitutes an individual. Surely plants are not considered individuals, yet a coma patient is. I think that the easiest way to define an “individual person” is both the possession of an advanced central nervous system… Continue

Added by Shine on February 18, 2010 at 3:31pm — 56 Comments

Defending The Faith, And Morality, Of NonBelievers

Check out the link at the bottom of this post to listen to the interview from Fresh Air today on NPR:

Humanism--the belief that ethics and morality can be vested in rationality, rather than a supernatural deity--might sound like a departure from faith communities and culture, but according to Greg Epstein, it doesn't have to be.

In his new book, Good Without God: What A Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein responds to challenges against humanism that spring… Continue

Added by Chelsea on December 23, 2009 at 11:00pm — 2 Comments

An Objective Source for Morality?

Nature is, as Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “red in tooth and claw”. It has no morals. Morality is a human construct that usually reflects our social norms. As such, morality is formed by an amalgam of influences from family, religion, culture, evolution and the arts. This amalgam of influences varies from person to person and is relative to our exposure to, and experience with, these influences.

Almost half the human race subscribes to a religion that claims morality is objective… Continue

Added by Atheist Exile on November 27, 2009 at 5:21am — 9 Comments

Christianity does NOT Exist

As I will argue, below, if a prerequisite of “true” Christianity is to follow Jesus, then nobody is a true Christian. The very reason for this also reveals our tacit acknowledgement that religious morality is subordinated to our innate human morality.

Nobody in their right mind, Christian or not, would fully obey Jesus. Do you know any Christians who abandon their worldly goods and rely on God to feed, clothe and shelter them? Of course not! But that's what Jesus…

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Added by Atheist Exile on October 16, 2009 at 10:00pm — 6 Comments

The Atheist's Guide To Christmas

This was originally posted over at my blog, Cubik's Rube.

If you want to know what I think of the Atheist's Guide to Christmas, a book that's just been released, which was put together by the lovely Ariane Sherine (organiser of the Atheist Bus Campaign) and which features essays from many of the grooviest godless guys and gals of our time,… Continue

Added by Cubik's Rube on September 29, 2009 at 7:10pm — 1 Comment

Ethics, not Morals

One of the questions that atheists are often asked is how a set of morals are established without having them handed to them from ancient, desert-wandering, superstituous tribes. (There's a similar thread on Think Athiest in the forums here.)

I address this issue by first admiting that, as an atheist, I have no moral standards--I have an ethical standard… Continue

Added by Nix Manes on September 23, 2009 at 8:37pm — 61 Comments

Is it Ethical for the Free Thinking Community to Bite Our Tongues and Allow the Religious to Stop Progress?

I wrote an article against Kissimmee Florida’s City Council’s attempt to put “In God We Trust” on their city seal. The day after the article was written the Kissimmee City Council decided to quash the motion and their attempt to make their town a mini theocracy ended. A few days later, a man from Georgetown, Texas named Dave Atkinson wrote me a series of emails on the… Continue

Added by LaRae Meadows on August 24, 2009 at 2:30am — 7 Comments

Why the Will is Not Free

Human beings have a powerful sense of free will, and in at least one important sense, they are responsible for their actions. Despite this, however, the concept of free will as it is commonly understood is baseless and incoherent. It is certainly true, of course, that when beings make choices, it feels to them as though a variety of outcomes are possible. In fact, however, only the actual outcome was ever really a possibility. For a different choice to have been… Continue

Added by Causal Crunch on April 21, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Beingist Philosophy

These are the basic premises intended to define Beingism. Beyond the content of the text here, Beingists may come to a variety of different conclusions. Other texts on this site, such as the essays, blog posts, and message board postings, may contain ideas widely shared among Beingists, though this cannot necessarily be… Continue

Added by Causal Crunch on April 19, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments