Atheism and the Church

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This is a rough opening for a thread. I did read some of the post it is loaded with quite a condescending attitude. I enjoyed some of the attitude. SO

I have been asking for some time for an atheist to explain their moral base of a lack there of, if you would like to say ethics base instead of morals that is fine. Actually as I am looking for content I will only be evaluating the content.

Just, FYI I looking at Natural Law and whether real atheists exist . Or a written better :rotfl: for a condescending attitude is; whether I will accept the existence of true atheists. Thank you for any help you can provide.
 
  1. Thank you for putting this thread in “Non-Catholic Religions”, komrade Mikhail. You’ve proved my point.
  2. “Proven” is attributive, whereas “proved” is predicative. Two examples will suffice:
    “You haven’t proved your theory.”
    “Your’s is a proven theory.”
    So go buy a basic English grammar book, and read it, before you start lecturing people on their word usage. Thanks.
  3. No, I didn’t spell check my last post. Calling someone a child, and insulting them because of it is hardly making you look mature. Have you never spelled a word wrong?
  4. No, communism’s killings weren’t “in the name of Atheism”. They came about as a byproduct, however long the path, of disbelief in God. Likewise, the institutionalizing of abortion in the United States was brought about by the view that man is the ultimate arbiter of what is a valid human life. There is no God in that equation.
Answer this honestly if you’re capable of it: who would you rather have find your wallet on the sidewalk - a confirmed “atheist”, or a devout Catholic?
 
  1. Thank you for putting this thread in “Non-Catholic Religions”, komrade Mikhail. You’ve proved my point.
  2. “Proven” is attributive, whereas “proved” is predicative. Two examples will suffice:
    “You haven’t proved your theory.”
    “Your’s is a proven theory.”
    So go buy a basic English grammar book, and read it, before you start lecturing people on their word usage. Thanks.
:yawn:

Prove has two past participles: proved and proven. Proved is the older form. Proven is a variant. The Middle English spellings of prove included preven, a form that died out in England but survived in Scotland, and the past participle proven, a form that probably rose by analogy with verbs like weave, woven and cleave, cloven. Proven was originally used in Scottish legal contexts, such as The jury ruled that the charges were not proven. In the 20th century, proven has made inroads into the territory once dominated by proved, so that now the two forms compete on equal footing as participles. However, when used as an adjective before a noun, proven is now the more common word: a proven talent.
  1. No, I didn’t spell check my last post. Calling someone a child, and insulting them because of it is hardly making you look mature. Have you never spelled a word wrong?
That’s “have you never spelled a word ‘incorrectly’” and we are on a new thread now.
  1. No, communism’s killings weren’t “in the name of Atheism”. They came about as a byproduct, however long the path, of disbelief in God. Likewise, the institutionalizing of abortion in the United States was brought about by the view that man is the ultimate arbiter of what is a valid human life. There is no God in that equation.
:yawn: So you don’t have an answer, just the spouting of more of the party line. When you can find a reasonable argument, I will be waiting.
Answer this honestly if you’re capable of it: who would you rather have find your wallet on the sidewalk - a confirmed “atheist”, or a devout Catholic?
It has become apparent that you are grasping when you are forced to use the sentence, "“answer this honestly if you’re capable”.

See Christopher Hitchens’ book, “god is not Great” pages 18-21. This question is answered in some detail.

And as I said, we are on another thread now. Please join us when your blood pressure drops a bit.
 
:yawn:

:yawn: So you don’t have an answer, just the spouting of more of the party line. When you can find a reasonable argument, I will be waiting.

It has become apparent that you are grasping when you are forced to use the sentence, "“answer this honestly if you’re capable”. …
It seems to take a lot of words and side steps, to avoid real issues. So why are you waiting? Why not just answer?
 
I have been asking for some time for an atheist to explain their moral base of a lack there of, if you would like to say ethics base instead of morals that is fine. Actually as I am looking for content I will only be evaluating the content.
If you have the time, The Science of Good and Evil by Michael Shermer deals with this subject very nicely.

Also, you may ask as many atheists as you like on The Forum located at whywontgodhealamputees.com/forum/index.php#2.

They would all be more than happy to oblige your request since you have been asking for “some time.”
Just, FYI I looking at Natural Law and whether real atheists exist . Or a written better :rotfl: for a condescending attitude is; whether I will accept the existence of true atheists. Thank you for any help you can provide.
I suppose it would help if I had an understanding of what you believe “natural law” is and isn’t, based on the currently accepted facts and theories.

Also, please define your interpretation of a “real atheist.”
 
It seems to take a lot of words and side steps, to avoid real issues. So why are you waiting? Why not just answer?
If I am asked a specific question, which is, of course why I am here, then I will provide an answer.

Note the word specific, not specious. My intent here (as I previously explained in the other thread) is not to fight or sling mud, but to discuss our differences as adults.

I have done so with several people (see previous thread), but like you, I go on the defensive when baited.

So, once again, if I am asked a specific question, I will provide an answer.
 
What is your moral (or ethical) base?
To avoid the obvious implications of the various sets and subsets of the definition of morals, I propose we use these specific definitions for this discussion. Agreed?

If you disagree with any part (or the whole) of either of these definitions, or wish to expand on or curtail the language or meaning of either, please do so and we will go back and forth until we come to an agreement. Then we will move forth using these definitions.

1.) Moral(s) are defined by a code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong, whether by society, philosophy, religion, or individual conscience.

2.) Ethics are defined as a systematic philosophical study of the moral domain.

Thus my moral “base” is centered on humanism and the predisposition of empathy, which is the mechanism that drives morality.
 
Perhaps many of us (nontheists) are just sick and tired of repeating the basics - social contract (Hobbes), golden rule (Jesus, among many others), and categorical imperative (Kant). These are all powerful bases for a system of ethics and morals that do not require belief in the supernatural, or some peculiar notion of rewards and punishments after death. Only the beginning, of course, but three minutes of checking into those concepts will give you the general outline, Texas Roofer. 🙂

As to who I’d rather found my wallet, I would be happy if either a ‘devout’ (presumably meaning they follow the Church’s teachings, not just say lots of rosaries and stuff) Catholic did so, or an ethical nontheist. If someone’s a jerk, it doesn’t matter to me if they’re religious or not, and likewise, if someone’s really thoughtful and upstanding, again, their religion or lack thereof doesn’t concern me. I recommend those three basic ethical principles I mentioned for theists as well!

I do use the term ‘nontheist’ since ‘atheist’ isn’t precise, in a way. Many, if not most, nontheists, do not categorically deny the existence of the supernatural, so much as we find the entire question of whether such things might exist to be rather pointless in the absence of any evidence either way. As in ‘we don’t Believe, in the existence or non-existence of deities, period.’ And that’s really the only generality one can make about nontheists (or atheists if you insist on using the term…I’d be careful with it though, since that leads to misconceptions), the same way one cannot make general statements about all theists (or religious people, but again, that can get imprecise) except that they do believe in the supernatural.

Just trying to be helpful! 😛
 
I do understand this and am glad you posted Nepenthe.

You are very charitable, and you make excellent points that ought to help us christians see how we can do much better in our way of expressing ourselves.

But, then again are we able to do this all the time?

(sincere question)

Can we screw up even if we wish to do well?
Perhaps many of us (nontheists) are just sick and tired of repeating the basics - social contract (Hobbes), golden rule (Jesus, among many others), and categorical imperative (Kant). These are all powerful bases for a system of ethics and morals that do not require belief in the supernatural, or some peculiar notion of rewards and punishments after death. Only the beginning, of course, but three minutes of checking into those concepts will give you the general outline, Texas Roofer. 🙂

As to who I’d rather found my wallet, I would be happy if either a ‘devout’ (presumably meaning they follow the Church’s teachings, not just say lots of rosaries and stuff) Catholic did so, or an ethical nontheist. If someone’s a jerk, it doesn’t matter to me if they’re religious or not, and likewise, if someone’s really thoughtful and upstanding, again, their religion or lack thereof doesn’t concern me. I recommend those three basic ethical principles I mentioned for theists as well!

I do use the term ‘nontheist’ since ‘atheist’ isn’t precise, in a way. Many, if not most, nontheists, do not categorically deny the existence of the supernatural, so much as we find the entire question of whether such things might exist to be rather pointless in the absence of any evidence either way. As in ‘we don’t Believe, in the existence or non-existence of deities, period.’ And that’s really the only generality one can make about nontheists (or atheists if you insist on using the term…I’d be careful with it though, since that leads to misconceptions), the same way one cannot make general statements about all theists (or religious people, but again, that can get imprecise) except that they do believe in the supernatural.

Just trying to be helpful! 😛
 
Perhaps many of us (nontheists) are just sick and tired of repeating the basics - social contract (Hobbes), golden rule (Jesus, among many others), and categorical imperative (Kant). These are all powerful bases for a system of ethics and morals that do not require belief in the supernatural, or some peculiar notion of rewards and punishments after death. Only the beginning, of course, but three minutes of checking into those concepts will give you the general outline, Texas Roofer. 🙂

As to who I’d rather found my wallet, I would be happy if either a ‘devout’ (presumably meaning they follow the Church’s teachings, not just say lots of rosaries and stuff) Catholic did so, or an ethical nontheist. If someone’s a jerk, it doesn’t matter to me if they’re religious or not, and likewise, if someone’s really thoughtful and upstanding, again, their religion or lack thereof doesn’t concern me. I recommend those three basic ethical principles I mentioned for theists as well!

I do use the term ‘nontheist’ since ‘atheist’ isn’t precise, in a way. Many, if not most, nontheists, do not categorically deny the existence of the supernatural, so much as we find the entire question of whether such things might exist to be rather pointless in the absence of any evidence either way. As in ‘we don’t Believe, in the existence or non-existence of deities, period.’ And that’s really the only generality one can make about nontheists (or atheists if you insist on using the term…I’d be careful with it though, since that leads to misconceptions), the same way one cannot make general statements about all theists (or religious people, but again, that can get imprecise) except that they do believe in the supernatural.

Just trying to be helpful! 😛
And a rather well thought position, I should say. 👍
 
Oh yeah, we can ALL screw up, even if we mean well. I figure the trick is to work out just why certain courses of action are generally preferable to others ahead of time, but to always keep an eye wide open that one is not mistaking a situation as being automatically workable under those preformed ‘routines’. Getting too set in one’s ways and blind to new and complex factors can lead to some serious messes! :o

Other than that caution, we just have to hope for the best! If people really put their sincere inquiry, effort and care into their ethics, then we might just be all right. 😃
 
HR,

One of the messages we, as Atheists or Non-theists or Non-believers, try to spread on these sites (as well as elsewhere) is that we are not trying to take away your right to worship.

As far as we are concerned, and please do not take this as a slam on the principles or your faith, you can worship an empty coffee can.

We don’t care.

The reason that you see such a resurgence and reorganization of Atheism as a force is due to the fundamentalism that is now running rampant in America.

The continued attempt (assault?) to:

1.) Instill prayer in the school (Christian prayer only, by the way) 2.) Placing the words, “In God We Trust” on our money and in our Pledge
3.) Displaying the Ten Commandments inside of our courthouses and of course
4.) Teaching Creationism as SCIENCE to our children
5.) The whole “America was founded on Christian values” speech we seem to hear far to often has become just too much for us to continue to remain underground and out of site.

😃
 
I don’t get it. You have a post with a link to another post with another link to another post with another lin. Does it just go on forever? Is it circular?
Welcome. Do you actually have a question for us?
Or is this like a debating version of a Matryoshka doll?
Actually, the Japanese invented the nested dolls, Sergei Maliutin simply copied them.

Once again. Welcome. Do you actually have a question for us?
 
As British biologist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1927, “If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose my beliefs are true . . . and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/GilderEvolution.php
also at
[Evolution and Me | Discovery Institute(name removed by moderator)age](http://www.discovery.org/scripts/vi...am=DI Main Page - Article&callingPage=discoMa(name removed by moderator)age)

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too - for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know if it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning.

Lewis, C. S., (2002), “The Complete C S Lewis”, (Harper; San Francisco), p30.
 
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