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Awesome post and I kinda see where he is coming from. Don't be a dick to others and be true to yourself and the world will be a much better place. Solid advice

Awesome post and I kinda see where he is coming from. Don't be a dick to others and be true to yourself and the world will be a much better place. Solid advice but unfortunately there are always powerful interests at work that have a stake in shaping your views and opinions. The church, the government, corporations, etc. Each of these things has a stake in an ideology that creates the conditions for their well being at the expense of the well being of others and people are extremely bad at untangling all those influences and getting to the bottom of who they really are. I even suspect some people are really uncomfortable with not being influenced and told what to do since they think chaos is sure to ensue. Every time I tell people I'm an atheist they act like they are seeing me for the first time and their immediate next question is "How do you make moral decisions without religion?". I have yet to find an answer to this question.

jacoblyles 17y ago
Really? I meet so many atheists on the internet and in California that I have the urge to take up a religion just to spite them.
- greenlblue 17y ago
  I honestly don't care if people are religious or not because in my experience it makes absolutely no difference to how the person acts. In my time I've know many intolerant and unkind religious assholes and I've also known many that have been religious and kind and caring. So if you're gonna take up religion you should do it for yourself and not to spite me.
  - jacoblyles 17y ago
    I didn't quite mean it that way. In line with the author's thoughts, popular beliefs that everyone is "supposed" to hold annoy me. I grew up in a very religious area and became an atheist. In my current environment atheism is the default position and religious people are given strange looks, so I sympathize with the religious people.
gizmomagico 17y ago
"How do you make moral decisions without religion?" - By using your own brain and common sense? How about: "Would you go around killing people if there was no Bible to tell you it's bad mm'kay?"
- tylerdmace 17y ago
  Agreed. Religion doesn't give you a sense of morals.
- greenlblue 17y ago
  I've tried that answer but the people that ask me that question do not link intelligence, common sense, decency and morality. To them intelligence has nothing to do with it. They think in the absence of fear nobody does the right thing willingly.
- kajecounterhack 17y ago
  Don't you use your brain and common sense to make all decisions, whether you're religious or not? Yeah, some religious people do tend to say silly things like "Atheists are less moral, they can't make moral decisions without religion" << but I think this is because they miss another aspect of life: society defines morals, not just religion. Religion is a shaper, but there's only so much defined in religion. Example: Religion doesn't say anything about illegal downloading. It's not exactly the "stealing" talked about in the bible, because hey nobody loses anything, just potential profit. There's no exact matching scenario in the bible...you kind of extrapolate. Where does the rest of your morality regarding such matters come from? Oh yah, your brain! Your common sense. Oh, what's that? Right, common sense is based on society -- norms and outside influences. Now sure, religion is a big part of people. It has strong ties with society, helping to shape the morality found in societies. Remember how parts of the bible were once used to justify slavery? Does anyone try to use the bible to support slavery anymore? Psh. But hey, if your religion says you can kill people, you wouldn't (logically speaking) just do so in any country today, because you make the decision in your brain "I won't do it or I'll go to jail." Society says no." Same with stuff like gay marriage. Some Christians learn to adapt to having members of the homosexual community in their congregations. Others can't deal just yet cause people dislike change. Regardless, in 100 years, it's a nonissue and virtually everyone agrees, morally speaking. Society wins. It happened with segregation, it happened with gender barriers, it'll happen again. Disclaimer: I am religious, I'm a Christian to be exact. But yeah, I don't claim that Christians are any more moral than anyone else. Morality is relative from a perspective that doesn't assume existence of God. ^ if you're a Christian, do know that I believe in moral absolutes. But that's only assuming the existence of God, because in that sense morals are defined by the nature of God.
moeffju 17y ago
"Do you take the bible literally? Would you stone your rebellious son to death?" - "[something about only using parts of the bible]" - "How do you make that judgement?" - q.e.d. And in case they reply "Yes, I would stone my son", call the police.

jacoblyles 17y ago

Really? I meet so many atheists on the internet and in California that I have the urge to take up a religion just to spite them.

greenlblue 17y ago
I honestly don't care if people are religious or not because in my experience it makes absolutely no difference to how the person acts. In my time I've know many intolerant and unkind religious assholes and I've also known many that have been religious and kind and caring. So if you're gonna take up religion you should do it for yourself and not to spite me.
- jacoblyles 17y ago
  I didn't quite mean it that way. In line with the author's thoughts, popular beliefs that everyone is "supposed" to hold annoy me. I grew up in a very religious area and became an atheist. In my current environment atheism is the default position and religious people are given strange looks, so I sympathize with the religious people.

gizmomagico 17y ago

"How do you make moral decisions without religion?" - By using your own brain and common sense? How about: "Would you go around killing people if there was no Bible to tell you it's bad mm'kay?"

tylerdmace 17y ago
Agreed. Religion doesn't give you a sense of morals.
greenlblue 17y ago
I've tried that answer but the people that ask me that question do not link intelligence, common sense, decency and morality. To them intelligence has nothing to do with it. They think in the absence of fear nobody does the right thing willingly.
kajecounterhack 17y ago
Don't you use your brain and common sense to make all decisions, whether you're religious or not? Yeah, some religious people do tend to say silly things like "Atheists are less moral, they can't make moral decisions without religion" << but I think this is because they miss another aspect of life: society defines morals, not just religion. Religion is a shaper, but there's only so much defined in religion. Example: Religion doesn't say anything about illegal downloading. It's not exactly the "stealing" talked about in the bible, because hey nobody loses anything, just potential profit. There's no exact matching scenario in the bible...you kind of extrapolate. Where does the rest of your morality regarding such matters come from? Oh yah, your brain! Your common sense. Oh, what's that? Right, common sense is based on society -- norms and outside influences. Now sure, religion is a big part of people. It has strong ties with society, helping to shape the morality found in societies. Remember how parts of the bible were once used to justify slavery? Does anyone try to use the bible to support slavery anymore? Psh. But hey, if your religion says you can kill people, you wouldn't (logically speaking) just do so in any country today, because you make the decision in your brain "I won't do it or I'll go to jail." Society says no." Same with stuff like gay marriage. Some Christians learn to adapt to having members of the homosexual community in their congregations. Others can't deal just yet cause people dislike change. Regardless, in 100 years, it's a nonissue and virtually everyone agrees, morally speaking. Society wins. It happened with segregation, it happened with gender barriers, it'll happen again. Disclaimer: I am religious, I'm a Christian to be exact. But yeah, I don't claim that Christians are any more moral than anyone else. Morality is relative from a perspective that doesn't assume existence of God. ^ if you're a Christian, do know that I believe in moral absolutes. But that's only assuming the existence of God, because in that sense morals are defined by the nature of God.

moeffju 17y ago

"Do you take the bible literally? Would you stone your rebellious son to death?" - "[something about only using parts of the bible]" - "How do you make that judgement?" - q.e.d. And in case they reply "Yes, I would stone my son", call the police.