Atheism "rights & wrongs"?

[robvalue]

A very interesting post! Thanks for sharing.

To me, morality is about respecting the wellbeing of others and society as a whole. I have a pretty simple rule of thumb. I ask if what someone is doing hurts anyone. If the answer is no, then I say let them get on with it. That's a very basic starting point, but it cuts things up into OK and not OK pretty efficiently. Deeper analysis can then be applied where needed.

Regarding LGBT, you're talking in general about characteristics not actions. We're still understanding exactly how these things come about, but it is generally agreed that it is not a choice. Judging someone's worth on whether or not they can reproduce would only make sense to me if we were on the brink of extinction and had very limited resources. At the moment, we actually have huge problems with overpopulation. So this argument really doesn't work. Also, they can generally reproduce just fine. Many gay men have children.

As you seem to have already realized, just firing out children isn't always a great thing to do anyway. I've never had children and never will, for a variety of reasons. Not breeding is actually desirable when the world is so crowded.

Regarding abortion, you have two choices: you allow women to make the decision about what grows inside them, or you force them to give birth. It's not a straightforward situation, but I feel the women's rights should win out over something that may develop into a life but hasn't done so yet. Her body, her choice. The world is already packed full of children that don't have a home. We don't need yet another one that the mother doesn't want, or isn't in a position to properly support.