# I'm morally deficient! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171 "2011-10-10T13:36:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/41 "2011-10-12T15:15:28Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > This church has been a good thing for my wife… Really? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/42 "2011-10-12T17:22:02Z")
So this professor is such an unloving sociopathic monster that he’s only nice to people because he’s scared of being punished after he dies? Because that’s what his statements seem to imply. Not that I think you should be saying this kind of thing exactly if you are at the Bible study group. Really, if the church is good for your wife, then help her to keep it – remember nobody’s perfect, and there are asshole atheists, too, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/43 "2011-10-13T00:58:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > By their system of morals, you are morally deficient. Christians teach that all people are morally deficient. That’s why they need Jesus. Not believing in Jesus is defined as the ultimate sin as it is the only one that gets you sent to hell. If you believe in Jesus, you can ask him for forgiveness for your moral lapses. If not, you can’t. > > Now I do have a problem with the idea that atheists are actively rejecting God, rather than thinking the evidence led them to their belief, or just not ever having thought about it. But the idea that atheists are morally deficient? That’s standard Christianity. > > This is the reason that, when I talk about morality, I talk of the consensus morality. There are many different ones. I went to Catholic school and that’s not what I was taught. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/44 "2011-10-13T12:48:08Z")
Much ado about nothing at the bible study last night. I took off to put the kids to bed once the discussion got started last night, and by the time I came down it was apparently over. My wife said that some of the, um, denser people in the group thought that the sermon was just great, but the overall consensus was that it was a negative message. Curiously, the sermon hasn’t been put up on the church’s website as a podcast yet, and we don’t think it’s going to at this point. That’s a good sign, I think. I did miss a great line, though. Paraphrased, it apparently went, “Not believing in god is like believing in unicorns.” I guess some people in the group just can’t fathom how someone can be an atheist. Oh well. Not my crazy not my problem, that’s what I say. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/45 "2011-10-13T13:38:57Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Well, I’m curious, what exactly did she expect at church other than…wait for it…people espousing the tenets of their belief? Not that they’re right, but this seems like pretty typical church fare. Did you expect to go to a church and have them all say “Yeah, you know, there totally COULD be a system of morality not dependent on God, let’s all go home and reflect on that…”? Shrug, it was about philosophy. My teachers who happened to be priests didn’t turn their lessons on chemistry, physics or philosophy into catechesis. The month and a half (our school year was divided into five “terms” which lasted about this much) dedicated to philosopher-theologians involved a lot of discussion on “faith vs reason” (which was one of the three “subjects” of the term, as established in the national curriculum) and some on “proofs of the existence of God”, but it was always an intelectual thing… “it’s this way because that’s the way it is” wasn’t acceptable to Ambrosius, wasn’t acceptable to Albertus Magnus, and it certainly wouldn’t have been acceptable to Father López. Dude normally refrained from turning corrosive in class, but any student with that kind of reasoning would have found himself drenched in verbal acid. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/46 "2011-10-13T13:49:26Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > The pamphlet has “homework questions” that the group is supposed to answer before the bible study. Ready? > > “What is the reason you most often hear for why someone doesn’t believe in God? Who in your life right now are you most likely to hear that from? What would you say to them right now?” > > So I imagine everyone in the room is going to write down **steronz**. Awkward! I’m either going to need to make myself scarce or drink some liquid courage. This could be a good opportunity. Were I you, I would be interested in hearing their answers to why they think people don’t believe in God. Prior to the meeting, I would have a little write-up as to why I don’t believe. I’d try to be as inoffensive as possible and I would only pull it out if I was specifically asked. Whups, seems I’m too late… ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/47 "2011-10-13T13:53:18Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I did miss a great line, though. Paraphrased, it apparently went, “Not believing in god is like believing in unicorns.” … You mean like it [says in the Bible](http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=unicorn&t=KJV)? Kind of a funny choice of mythical beast to compare atheism to… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171/48 "2011-10-14T01:35:22Z")
Gosh, I’m glad I’m an Episcopalian! When I took classes(I was switching denominations) the priest said “Being Episcopalian means you don’t have to check your brains at the door!”😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-morally-deficient/599171.md?page=2)