*snicker*

[lunadelcorvo]

(Quoted from Austin Cline's Agnosticism / Atheism Blog, Austin Cline, http://atheism.about.com/b/a/259483.htm.)

Should more atheists become more comfortable with the fact that so many people in America are "god-fearing"? If it's true that these people cannot come up with any reason for being moral without their god and religion, perhaps we are better off that they remain theists — at least for the time being. We don't want them to become atheists unless and until they are able to develop a stronger sense of morality. We don't want people to become atheists unless and until they are able to divorce morality and moral behavior from their prior religious beliefs. I shudder to think what sorts of crimes some of them might commit if they just woke up one day and stop believing in gods

So, the next time someone tells you that there's no reason to be moral for atheists, maybe a good response would be: "That's why I don't want you to stop being a religious theist. If the only thing keeping you from raping and murdering is your belief in your god, then I'd prefer if you just held on to that for a while longer. I don't want you to become a secular atheist unless and until you develop enough morally and intellectually that you can behave in a positive, moral way simply out of concern for the well-being of others. I want you to refrain from hurting others because you actually care about what happens to them, not because you're under orders from some deity."

(More meaningful, personal content coming soon, especially for some of you; you know who you are... )

Comments

[raven-moon.livejournal.com]

I agree; then again, as I told another commenter, you are not the sort of person being addressed here! LOL It is rare (and please take this as the compliment it is intended to be) to find people who believe anything strongly without trying to cram it down the throats of others.

Christianity presently takes the worst of the bad rap largely because there seem to be a particularly large number of loons of that creed (more or less) trying to run the place at the moment....

For me, it all ties in to my feeling that 'religion' (as distinguished from individual spirituality, which I value and respect quite highly) has outlived its usefulness, and as a social construct does far more harm than good...

[sentimental13.livejournal.com]

I have a bit of a problem with religion itself, and here's how I view it. Religion is man reaching out to God, but God's already reached out to man through Christianity (Jesus and all that) and man must only take up his hand. It's not at all about the habit and mindlessness associated with religion; it's about a personal choice to take the hand that's been extended. I'm not sure how many Christians would agree with me on that, but there it is anyway.