Anne Rice renounces Christianity

[cpwill]

Well, maybe religion is only useful to some people, people who want to do bad things.

that group would be effectively defined as all people. temptation to sin is as universal a human experience as breathing.

Many of us have our own moral and ethical codes, and don't have any trouble adhering to them.

really. you have never in your life done anything that you have looked at later and said "that was wrong" or would have said (if asked prior to you taking that action) that doing it would have been immoral.

I think the trouble comes when you try to adhere to somebody else's standards, somebody else's morals or ethical code.
If, on the other hand, you have your own rules for how to be a good person, based on your own personal values, it isn't difficult to follow it.

okay. and if my moral code is that women don't deserve to be treated as full members of society, and should be publicly stoned to death if they attempt to learn to read, or leave the house without a male member of their family present? i'm thinking we as a society have the right to say that No, that is Wrong, and have a strong foundation for doing so. those who believe that morality is subjective always seem to focus on their own actions; the way to test is to see if they are so tolerant of others actions that harm them in ways they recognize as immoral. the whole "everyone can live by 'their own moral code'" mindset only works when everyone really doesn't; but sticks to a generally culturally accepted norm.

if i want to build a bridge, i go read engineering handbooks, and learn math from others. i don't insist that this is just 'my way to build a bridge', and if i did insist on that, then people would be right to refuse to use my river crossing. the same is true of ethical living; if you want to get better at it, you are going to be better off learning from those who are wiser and more experienced than yourself than insisting that you are wiser than either all the great minds in human history who have wrestled with these problems or the combined experience of billions of humans before you, and instead go out and figure it out all by yourself.

 

[Anarcho-fascist]

OMG, lol - seriously. Laughing too hard to type. omfg. lol!

Excuse me, cpwill said: "i want to do all kinds of horrible things, i want to lie in order to advance myself, i want to perform violence on those who infuriate me, i want to deride those around me.... if God was willing to leave me as I am, then He would be a pretty s----y guide, much less a God." In other words, "God keeps me from harming others".

Atheists are underrepresented in the prison population, and they don't commit more crimes than theists.

 

[BDBoop]

I laughed at his entire statement. I read again, I laughed again. People are pulling these statements from somewhere, but I've yet to see anything other than talk.

Excuse me, cpwill said: "i want to do all kinds of horrible things, i want to lie in order to advance myself, i want to perform violence on those who infuriate me, i want to deride those around me.... if God was willing to leave me as I am, then He would be a pretty s----y guide, much less a God." In other words, "God keeps me from harming others".

Atheists are underrepresented in the prison population, and they don't commit more crimes than theists.

 

[American]

So, you would expect who, exactly, to write an article critical of religion? Billy Graham?

Why not research the opposing view yourself and show us how wrong he is? It should be a simple process for you. Since you seem so certain, you must have some specific information in mind.

This argument could be reversed. I'll await the results of your research. :lol:

 

[Anarcho-fascist]

I laughed at his entire statement. I read again, I laughed again. People are pulling these statements from somewhere, but I've yet to see anything other than talk.

I've looked into it the source of the statistics, and it seems that the one about the relative number of atheists in prison compared to the country's whole population is questionable, I won't use it unless I find a reliable source.

It is a fact though that Europe and Japan have lower rates of both violent crime and religiosity. I think that it is valid to say that atheists do not kill, rape, steal, or commit crimes disproportionately to theists. I'm not sure why that is so hilarious. Anyway, other factors probably have a much larger influence on who goes to prison (correlation doesn't prove causation).

cpwill said: "i want to do all kinds of horrible things, i want to lie in order to advance myself, i want to perform violence on those who infuriate me, i want to deride those around me". This statement isn't too unusual by itself, everyone has been in a situation where at least one of these thoughts have crossed their mind at least briefly. It is unusual if it happens all the time though.

cpwill then says: "if God was willing to leave me as I am, then He would be a pretty s----y guide, much less a God." Examination of this statement raises a question about whether cpwill thinks God or belief in God holds him back from lying, committing violent acts, or deriding other people. There are those who claim that atheists are immoral, and those who claim that belief in God keeps them from committing crimes (IMO the majority of people who claim this are mistaken, and they would be just as good as they are today if they stopped believing).