(November 24, 2014 at 6:52 am)Harris Wrote:

(November 21, 2014 at 8:18 am)Irrational Wrote: Religion tells you to commit genocide and other detestable deeds in the name of God.
Is that the kind of morals you're advocating, OP? Because I'm fine with my own moral standards, thank you.

Do you have any idea who these people are?

Stalin
Mao Zedong
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Pol Pot
Benito Mussolini
Hideki Tojo
Nicolae Ceausescu
Slobodan Milosevic
Kim Sung

Yeah, but what does this list have to do with my moral standards?

Well, at least you did not deny that religion advocates certain atrocities ...

Jesus Christ on a Popsicle stick. I always forget and accidentally open this thread and spend hours trying to thaw my frozen safari. Hasn't anyone in here ever heard of a hide button.

Harris really needs to accept that evolution is a fact as much as gravity the evidence is overwhelming.

But even if it was wrong (it isn't) the default position would not be "magic man done it", it would be we don't know.
An argument against evolution, as wrong headed as they all are, do not equal an argument for the god of your choice.

So, if you are saying that god made all life please tell us how.
I want a detailed explanation so that we can look at every aspect of the process.

Wow, you guys can really type out long posts.

Now Harris, atheism isn't solely dependent on the concept of "evolution", atheism is stemmed in the knowledge that we have gained so far, which includes biology which contains the theory (read facts) of evolution. Every other avenue of knowledge like astronomy, chemistry, physics e.t.c also invalidates almost any divine or supernatural claims. Actually, the false claims in religion is one of the biggest contributors towards the development of science and atheism. We are skeptic because we are trying to find the truth. Simply claiming to know something without actually knowing or understanding it would be dishonest and immoral.

You have claimed a god to be our creator, and he is the founder of morals, and such. You are claiming to know things which you do not actually know but only assume. Do you really know who this god is? how does he look like? what does he think? What determines his actions? Do you know anything for sure about him? Is he actually a "he"?......do you really know the answers, or do you THINK you know?

About Mohammed, no I don't support his actions. Being 1400 years ago doesn't validate the fact that he actually was a pedophile. Rape isn't about having sex with whom you are married or not married but about the consent of the involved individuals. A child especially at that age is not capable of making conscious independent decisions or provide consent. You mentioned her parents provided consent, and that makes it okay, but parents also sell their their children into prostitution in the third world countries even today, does that make it okay? Even without the sex part, forcing a child into marriage when the child is incapable of understanding the implications of it is clearly a violation of her rights.

(December 6, 2014 at 4:55 pm)Harris Wrote: "The dead have fewer babies than the living" is the best analogy to the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution I have ever encountered.

You're welcome......something tells me it sailed past you though.

Quote: Indeed, Theory of Evolution is a conjecture not scientifically proven theory.

Science doesn't prove, it attempts to explain. It -is- a conjecture though. Might always be (I kind of hope so). Science makes no claim to full knowledge and so all science can be described as conjecture. Is that a problem for you? Unless you have full knowledge yourself you are also making conjectures. If only there were some tool....a method maybe, a practical means by which a person might determine which of two conjectures has greater explanatory power?

........

(December 6, 2014 at 8:02 pm)Rhythm Wrote:

(December 6, 2014 at 4:55 pm)Harris Wrote: "The dead have fewer babies than the living" is the best analogy to the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution I have ever encountered.

You're welcome......something tells me it sailed past you though.

It's also not an analogy. It's a statement of fact so painfully obvious that only a religious person could argue against it.

Oh dear gawd, don't tell me someone has mislaid the atheist morals again. I personally will be damned before I make do with the theist variety. Oh to hell with it. I'll just play it by ear.

How can I tell my morals are good if some arbitrary authority hasn't told me they are good without explanation?

I'm stumped. It's hard work being an atheist. It's almost like you just have to make your own moral assessments, so that you know you're doing the best you are capable of.