Did someone forget John Locke? Natural law is derived from Judeo-Christian principles and Western traditions. It does not require belief in a Supreme Creator as Hoosier8 suggests, but it was discovered by applying the principle of an all-merciful, all-forgiving, all-loving God who demands that none of his children judge the worth of any other in His eyes. Jesus laid the groundwork for natural law, but much of his groundwork was perverted by powerful men who wanted to keep that power and built churches and states that propagated power. Locke, Jefferson, and other inheritors of the Enlightenment saw the truth of Jesus' words.
We can thank more modern philsophers on the subject of natural law who have shown that a "Supreme Creator" is not necessary to recognize the truth of self-ownership from which natural law is derived. In fact, I have the same problem with your assertion as Wyrd. If God is an active, interventionist participant in the affairs of humans, then His laws are arbitrary, not natural. He can decide at any time who is worth more than others, and choose right and wrong based on His favor rather than the natural self-ownership of his creations. He would be violating the natural rights of human beings by interfering in their affairs. This perhaps why many natural rights adherents were deists and why Jefferson compiled his own very slimmed down version of the Gospels.
Absolutely not, and it gives me chills knowing the only thing preventing you from going down that slippery slope is a paperback. I don't have a problem with human sacrifice because the bible tells me I should. I have a problem with human sacrifice BECAUSE IT INVOLVES SACRIFICING HUMANS! Riiiiight. Don't you think it would be fair to at least mention the problems Christianity had/has with Science, itself the polar opposite of superstition? People were put to death for believing things we now know to be true. That even you know to be true. To ignore this is simply unrealistic. ABC news reports that euthanasia and assisted suicide combined account for 1.8% of deaths in the Netherlands. So you're 0 for 1 by my count. The suicide rate is 18.4 people per 100,000 in Switzerland. That's 0.000184%, not 10%. I make it 0 for 2. The US is 11.8/100,000. The UK, far more secular, is 6.9/100,000. Of course I'm not naive enough to think that there is a direct causal relationship between atheism and suicide so I would never misuse (or make up) numbers like you do. I can, however, use the actual numbers to show how horribly mistaken your beliefs are. Let me guess. Facts are less important to you than your beliefs. Where did you learn that, I wonder? 22% of Russians self-identify as atheists. Italy, Greece, and Poland are all under 6%. Are you tempted to correlate religious faith with fiscal irresponsibility? No. Not darkness. Blindness. Yours, as demonstrated above.
What's your position on the Easter Bunny? Never mind. I'm an atheist and I would never presume to say that there definitely isn't a god. And of course I'm always open to evidence. Funny thing is, I've never met an atheist who felt any differently. I am, and most are, an agnostic atheist. Not necessarily the commonly understood meaning, but the correct one. Theism is about belief. I see no evidence for any god, nobody can provide me with a reason to believe so I lack belief, hence A-Theism. Gnosticism is about knowledge. Since I lack a belief in any god obviously I couldn't claim to have knowledge of one. So I am A-Gnostic. As are most atheists, in my experience. Hard atheism requires making a positive claim it would be irresponsible of me to make. Plus the null hypothesis is infuriating to some Christians who just can't seem to understand why it's up to them to prove the very thing only they're claiming exists. And yes, we atheists can be stupid sometimes, as can theists and everyone in between. But I don't buy your argument that denying the existence of something (regardless of the absolute truth of the claim) wins either side any points. It seems almost an admission of defeat that anyone would claim such a pyrrhic victory - mere acknowledgement that a concept exists is a pretty meager prize for those who would claim it. Much in the way I don't win much arguing with you that I can teleport simply because you took the time to say "prove it." Who cares if the concept of my teleportation powers exists? Not even I do. Alright. I'm going to Finland for the afternoon. Cheers.
Atheists are still an absurdly small part of the US population. Always have been and always will be. Accept the fact that atheist beliefs are as popular as contracting AIDS and maybe you can live a happier life knowing hardly anyone believes as you do.
Thank you for this post, especially the debunking of the obviously false claims about Switzerland and the Netherlands. I can only assume that Blackrock is "lying for Jesus".
I don't know any atheists in "real life"...but I've gotten an earful here on the internet...I think that's their home turf, where they all congregate looking for each other.
Buddhism, especially Mahayana Buddhism is highly organised and centralised, and is much more than a philosophy. The spirital leader of Mahayana Buddhism is the Dalai Lama. Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka and SE Asia less so. With Theravadas the centre of religion of the local town or village is the Wat (temple) but the idealolgies are the same from country to country, with some local differences. Theravada Buddhism doesn't have a central spirital leader, but each country has its own leader.
You probably know many of them. What do you expect them to do, run around and preach athiesm to you? On the Internet, I will discuss politics and religion. I don't do that at my work because it will only lead to conflict. So the reality is that the more open and honest opinions are often on the Internet.
You had better look under your bed before you turn off the light. Atheists will bite the heads off your chickens and murder you in your sleep
That's because non-Atheists are really judgmental and will get preachy and attempt to convert anyone who they find out is an unbeliever. The only place I can go to discuss these topics in my area, is, ironically, a church. The Unity Fellowship and Unitarian Universalist churches are generally open to people of all faiths and people of no faith. Now, I'm not a strict atheist; I deem myself a non-theist, so I generally don't get involved in the conversation with atheists, either, who can be just as stubborn about their non-believing status as the religious about their religion.
I have never mocked anyone for their religious beliefs and neither do most atheists..it use to be that I couldn't tell anyone that I was an atheist without being looked upon as a messenger of satan and ridiculed..this is slowly changing for the better.. I'm a hard working father of three, married and I do charity work, I'm honest , well respected among my peers a good person..I have no need for a god to make me a better person..I just have a problem with believing in fairy tales but if it makes you happy by all means embrace Jesus..
Really? Most of the people I know fall somewhere along the spectrum that runs from disinterest to disbelief. With exceptions - 3 married couples - one Jewish, one evangelical, and the third sort of new-agey all go to services each week without fail and pay a lot of attention to their respective holy books. Religion rarely comes up - they know my position and, while I wouldn't be rude to them they know I think a lot of what they believe in is imaginary. And unnecessary. This has been my experience since leaving home, really. Lots of atheists with little clusters of churchgoers that always amaze me with their ability to keep finding the stuff interesting, week after week. It was boredom that was the beginning of the end for me - by the time we were back at Genesis for the third time I was done with the bible and managed to avoid rereading it until a few years ago. And it still leaves me cold, like some piece of supposedly wonderful classical music that everyone adores except me - I just don't get the appeal. I don't see any wisdom - the really positive, useful stuff is self-evident and the rest is just.....bizarre and kind of creepy, frankly. To each his own, of course. Just about the only thing that kind of bugs me is that casual scorn and derision is acceptable towards atheists but even the slightest bit of criticism from our side and there's a war on Christianity. Even a civil conversation can provoke screaming and yelling and all kinds of, well, weeping and gnashing of teeth, I guess. Christians are the most sensitive super-majority I've ever encountered.
Stupid comment. A corrupt, paranoid and thoroughly nasty regime killed those people, and it had nothing to do with a belief-system.
This message brought to you by the same people talking out of the other side of their mouths by blaming religion for every death involving a religous person.
Religion offers hope for the future and I can understand why more and more people, me too, are less and less hopeful.
