this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Atheism

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[–] Rottcodd@kbin.social 104 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This is such a deeply disturbing viewpoint.

When someone says that a lack of religion leads to a lack of morality, what they're necessarily really saying is that they're so deeply sociopathic that they not only can't reason morally, but can't even envision the possibility of doing so. They're effectively stating outright that they can't even imagine arriving at sound moral judgments through the application of reason, empathy and concern for others, and that the only way they can even conceive of morality is as a set of rules laid down and enforced by some enormous daddy figure who's going to punish them if they break them.

It's astonishing really. And sobering.

[–] TeryVeneno@lemmy.ml 42 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It gets worse, because that’s what people use to justify the argument that people being evil is a part of human nature. Because they genuinely believe that being evil is the default state of humans despite centuries of evidence otherwise.

[–] Rottcodd@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago

It's also the reason that religious people can contentedly do horrible things - because they have no ability to make moral judgments on their own, so if their religion tells them that something that anyone with even a minimal ability to reason morally would recognize to be obviously wrong is actually right and proper, they just slavishly believe that it's right and proper.

I dunno, I don't believe in a god, but I also don't believe humans are good either. We're pretty fucked up creatures.

[–] admiralteal@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

When people tell you who they are, believe them.

[–] Scrof@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago

That's what you get for delegating all the reasoning to a single book.

[–] jeena@jemmy.jeena.net 46 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can, the worst will do the worst they can, but if you want to make good people do wicked things, you’ll need religion.

Christopher Hitchens

[–] Magnetar@feddit.de 17 points 1 year ago

Sounds a lot like Steven Weinberg

With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The religious are over represented in prisons.

Lot of good that religious moral compass did them

[–] Eneryi@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Not trying to defend the moral compass argument but legality doesnt equate morality either

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[–] TiKa444@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

Or are all those who spread terror and hatred for religious reasons simply not religious enough. Of course, religion does not necessarily have to degenerate into violence, but it is not at all suitable as a measure of morality, as history shows us.

[–] theotherone@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Erroring.

Kindly f&!k off.

[–] Lophostemon@aussie.zone 0 points 1 year ago

Perhaps taking remedial English lessons would would help THEM realise their own “erroring”.

Idiot.