I have been a devout Baptist my entire life and have, therefore, considered the Bible as my ultimate authority. I look to it for my morals, perspectives, and priorities, and I know that without it I’d be totally lost.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
I have two questions about your question:
What is the object of the term “their”?
What do you mean by relative morals?
Answers:
1)Atheists
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
jenkinsfan, I suggest you do a little research. Try http://hem.passagen.se/nicb/atheism.htm and pay particular attention to the section titled Morality and Ethics: Are They Possible without a God?
Well… I’m an agnostic, not an atheist, but I’ve never had trouble forming my own morals and priorities without the aid of a bible. I treat others the way I would like to be treated and generally try to pursue goals that:[ul][li]make me happy[/li][li]make others happy[/li][li]contribute something of lasting worth to society[/ul][/li]
Aside from the God/Jesus stuff, what morals, perspectives and priorities do you find in the Christian bible that transcend common sense and goodwill?
Actually, there have been a number of threads right here in Great Debates on this topic, just look back over the past few months.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
While I agree that we’ve done some pretty lousy things as a species, it’s also worth noting that a fairly large number of people associated with the problems you list consider themselves to be theists.
A higher authority is no better than relative conscience if you don’t listen.
Sorry, as you can guess by my profile I’m a newbee.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
No, certain individuals just need to be bitch-slapped.
Seriously, in response to your previous questions, I guess I don’t understand what you mean by the determination of an atheist’s ultimate authority. Please elaborate further.
Prioritization is based on importance. Importance is based on necessity and benefit.
Morals can be relative but needn’t be.
Not neccesarily. I consider myself to be an agnostic most of the time, and an atheist the rest, however in the course of my reading and studying “right vs. wrong” I have found the Bible (specifically the Gospels) to be very helpful in setting my own moral compass. Regardless of my beliefs about a higher power, I believe in the wisdom that Jesus’ teachings contain.
I agree. For the sake of illustration, though, consider the following…
I am an atheist. I believe that we all evolved from single cell creatures without supernatural intervention. I believe that I have all the answers inside me…However, I can’t explain why so many people around me haven’t figured out God doesn’t exist even after we’ve had several billions of years without any sign of Him. I also struggle to explain why mankind hasn’t learned from its mistakes considering the incredible time period it’s had to do so. And if I’m wrong about all of this then I guess I’ll find out when I die.
Help me out; is that the logic of an atheist? Answers please.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
Sir, I kindly ask you not to curse, please. I’m not trying to impose my morals on you, but I wish you would respect my request. Thank you.
As for the question for my original post, I was asking how do atheists decide what is right and what is wrong. Is more elaboration needed?
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
Obviously there is no uniform moral code among atheists. It is certainly true that some atheists are sociopathic or desperately evil (as are some theists of every stripe) and have no moral code beyond immediate self-gratification.
However many of us atheists, myself included, subscribe to the philosophy of Secular Humanism and its moral/ethical system as originally described in the Humanist Manifesto I* (1933) and [url=http://www.infidels.org/org/aha/documents/manifesto2.html]Humanist Manifesto II.
Dr. Crane! Your glockenspiel has come to life!
Secular Humanism
Humanist Manifesto I (1933)
Humanist Manifesto II. (1973}
He makes this point several times in the essay. You are mistakenly extrapolating his personal values to public issues.
Well, it looks like meara, hardcore, SingleDad and myself have all given you a little insight into our own personal ways of prioritizing our lives.
I would assume that there are almost as many variations on the basic concepts of athiesm and agnosticism as there are on theism.
Atheists, I’ve found, are by no means a single collective of thought any more than a mixed group of Catholics, Baptists, Hindus, and Wiccans might be.
So…Is he saying that his personal values aren’t good enought to govern the rest of society?
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.
Yes, you have given me very courteous responses and I thank you for it. BTW, if yer curious about what I happen to believe then you can pick up the Bible.
Thanx.
ETERNITY: SMOKING OR NON SMOKING?
Itchy the flea-filled beagle hound.