• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

Do Atheists have morals?

People look at all the evil done in the name of religion and blame religion and not the pursuit of centralized power. Personally, I could not fathom a life without hope and purpose and faith provides that for large numbers of people. Nothing else even would come close IMHO.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
I wholeheartedly reject jesus.
Click to expand...

RabidAlpaca said:
Well, to quote the christians "Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the son of god."
Click to expand...

Both of those statements are made from a Christian perspective. The first presuming such and the second outright relying on a random Christian quote for the basis of your argument. Both of these things are dishonest. In the first, you don't qualify your statement - you just let it stand as a religious uttering. In the second, well, let's just say that's common hackery/shenanigans.

Now, on to this:

RabidAlpaca said:
It means I reject him as a prophet with all of my heart... A lot of them [his teachings] I agree with and implement in my own life.
Click to expand...
Brackets "[]" mine.


So you don't reject him entirely, completely and without reserve? Then what was your original statement about?
 
Last edited:
ecofarm said:
Both of those statements are made from a Christian perspective. The first presuming such and the second outright relying on a random Christian quote for the basis of your argument. Both of these things are dishonest. In the first, you don't qualify your statement - you just let it stand as a religious uttering. In the second, well, let's just say that's common hackery/shenanigans.

Now, on to this:



So you don't reject him entirely, completely and without reserve? Then what was your original statement about?
Click to expand...

Rejecting jesus isn't from a christian perspective. That doesn't make a lick of sense. The second statement has nothing to do with religious belief. He was either lying, crazy, or he was what he said he was.

You've dragged me so far off topic that we can't even see the topic. You just spent about 10 posts trying to argue the meaning of words and trying to label me a christian. I think we've wasted enough time. If you'd like to continue on topic I'll be here.
 
ecofarm said:
Confucius, Buddha and Jesus were great thinkers. They revolutionized spirituality. Even if one doesn't agree with anything they concluded, the means by which they explored are valuable.





You don't seem to get it. You assume a Christian perspective when you fail to qualify your statement regarding rejecting Jesus wholeheartedly. This is fundamentally intellectually dishonest, as you assume the role of your opponent and fail to maintain an honest self.
Click to expand...

true.............................
 
Fisher said:
People look at all the evil done in the name of religion and blame religion and not the pursuit of centralized power. Personally, I could not fathom a life without hope and purpose and faith provides that for large numbers of people. Nothing else even would come close IMHO.
Click to expand...

You learn to live with it. It's kind of like the matrix. Do you take the blue pill and believe what is comforting, or do you take the red pill but have to live with the sometimes painful truth of reality? I absolutely, positively do not blame christians for believing what they do. I in fact used to be one. I think that's great that they have their faith, and I would never want to rob them of that. The only time I may get agressive against them is when they try to impress their religion on our society and our government.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
trying to label me a christian.
Click to expand...

I was not trying to label you a Christian. That's absurd, on its face.

I was pointing out how your taking of a Christian perspective is dishonest debate, and you do it in in at least two ways that were clearly displayed in this thread.

"I reject Jesus wholeheartedly" followed by ~"I agree with a lot of his teachings and impliment them in my own life" is a clear illustration of the conflict therein.
 
ecofarm said:
I was not trying to label you a Christian. That's absurd, on its face.

I was pointing out how your taking of a Christian perspective is dishonest debate, and you do it in in at least two ways that were clearly displayed in this thread.

"I reject Jesus wholeheartedly" followed by ~"I agree with a lot of his teachings and impliment them in my own life" is a clear illustration of the conflict therein.
Click to expand...

Relating terms into something that christians can readily understand, is not taking their perspective. I agree with the philosophies of "Don't murder, don't steal, don't be a dick". He taught this, and I agree with this, but he didn't invent these concepts, and he does not get the credit for it. I reject him for the same reason I reject mohammed and jacob smith, because they're largely full of it.

Now, back to topic.
 
Atheists are possessed of a conscience like every other person. The conscience is the wellspring of morality, the innate sense of right and wrong. If everyone was in perfect attendance with their conscience, no religion would be necessary.
 
only a complete idiot would tell another person they have no morals based solely on whether they have religion or not. Fact is morals are subjective and the super vast majority of people have them, even hardened criminals and murders to a certain degree.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Relating terms into something that christians can readily understand, is not taking their perspective.
Click to expand...

But that's not what you're doing. You're taking quotes out of context physically and spiritually, and using them against Christians. You are speaking on their terms, when those are not your own. What you're doing is misrepresenting Christians. As I said, dishonest.
 
anyone want to go on a pillaging spree with me? i was thinking waco might be fun to pillage
 
FreedomFromAll said:
As an Atheist I am quite convinced that I have morals. I know the difference between right and wrong. Many religions though will beg to differ. And I am not really sure why they would believe such a thing considering another religion may believe that they are immoral as well.

Plus there are known facts like civilizations that existed without modern religion, it would be presumptuous to accuse entire civilizations of being immoral, not that it stops some religions from doing just that. The bible does teach that Atheists are bad people until they convert. Or at the very least theists will assert that Atheists lack the guidance of a god. Seems to be though a contradiction of the whole theological freewill thing though.

SO what do you think? Do we Atheists have morals?
Click to expand...

You most likely have a Christian moral value system if you live in the US due to the cultural influences unless you grew up somewhere else then your moral value system would be based around that culture.

I don't subscribe to that whole 'atheists are bad people just for being atheists' thought process. Some are good some are bad just like everyone else in the world.
 
UtahBill said:
People who behave out of fear of punishment are not exhibiting morals....they are simply obeying their masters....
Click to expand...

Would this be the opportunity I was looking for to introduce Kohlberg's theories of moral development?

You have just described the preconventional stage of moral development, but there are certainly higher levels.
 
ecofarm said:
Confucius, Buddha and Jesus were great thinkers. They revolutionized spirituality. Even if one doesn't agree with anything they concluded, the means by which they explored are valuable.
Click to expand...

What means? They revolutionized spirituality by...?
 
Last edited:
Gardener said:
Would this be the opportunity I was looking for to introduce Kohlberg's theories of moral development?

You have just described the preconventional stage of moral development, but there are certainly higher levels.
Click to expand...

It's been a while with Kohlberg, progression isn't necessary, is it? I know there are developmental stages but are people always going to progress?
 
ecofarm said:
The means by which we explore the metaphysical: logic, reasoned speculation, morality, etc.
Click to expand...

Morality isn't exclusively metaphysical. It's an epistemological, empirical, and ethical problem. The metaphysical branch of philosophy has withered; its historical perspective is all that is readily studied.

Transforming world religions.
Click to expand...

... or founding them. This could be considered a negative externality.
 
UtahBill said:
People who behave out of fear of punishment are not exhibiting morals....they are simply obeying their masters....
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it unfortunately seems like some people need that
 
spanky said:
What are christian values?
Click to expand...

The 10 commandments are Christian values and our laws in America are based on those 10 commandments to a large degree. Now if you go to a Muslim country run by somebody like the Muslim Brotherhood as Egypt now is you have laws based on the Koran as the Sharia faction interprets it.
 
Monserrat said:
You most likely have a Christian moral value system if you live in the US due to the cultural influences unless you grew up somewhere else then your moral value system would be based around that culture.

I don't subscribe to that whole 'atheists are bad people just for being atheists' thought process. Some are good some are bad just like everyone else in the world.
Click to expand...

What if you are in the U.S. and reject that moral system?

Dr. Chuckles said:
Yeah, but it unfortunately seems like some people need that
Click to expand...

Need or want?
 
sawyerloggingon said:
The 10 commandments are Christian values and our laws in America are based on those 10 commandments to a large degree. Now if you go to a Muslim country run by somebody like the Muslim Brotherhood as Egypt now is you have laws based on the Koran as the Sharia faction interprets it.
Click to expand...

funny-pictures-auto-Louis-CK-stand-up-359727.jpeg
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
Evidence for your claim?
Click to expand...

In some general sense I agree that humanity should be able to move beyond such things, but that doesn't translate to such being a likely occurence. People just generally suck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom