As a side note, this is one of the reasons why religion is not only not necessary for understanding morality, it actually is a hindrance.
Removing the clutter of religious thinking and looking at the world from a naturalist view, it's clear that morality is a function of how we treat our fellow sentient beings. Exactly where lines should be drawn can be a complex issue but we understand the basic principle that questions of morality apply where our actions impact the happiness and well-being of others.
Religious thinking clutters the mental and moral landscape with many rules that have nothing to do with morality and may actually cause harm. It distracts with many petty rules like "don't shake hands with a female", "don't work on the Sabbath" or "don't eat pork on every second Tuesday of the month" (I made that last one up). Such distracting rules can lead to the implementation of laws like "you can't sell booze on Sunday", "sex is illegal when money changes hands", or "love is evil when the body parts are similar and so same-gender marriage is illegal". These forms of legislated morality can serve to violate the rights of individuals, punishing them for victimless crimes or restricting their choices in matters that don't affect anyone else. Therefore, legislated morality on victimless crimes, a product of religious thinking, is actually immoral.
Worse still, sometimes religious clutter on issues of morality lead to disastrous and harmful choices. The Catholic Church has discouraged condom use in places ravaged by AIDS. Protestant Churches have pushed for "abstinence only sex education" which has led to increases in teen pregnancy. Religious efforts to block stem cell research has slowed medical progress in curing debilitating diseases like Parkinson's.
Religion is neither necessary nor helpful to understand morality.
Removing the clutter of religious thinking and looking at the world from a naturalist view, it's clear that morality is a function of how we treat our fellow sentient beings. Exactly where lines should be drawn can be a complex issue but we understand the basic principle that questions of morality apply where our actions impact the happiness and well-being of others.
Religious thinking clutters the mental and moral landscape with many rules that have nothing to do with morality and may actually cause harm. It distracts with many petty rules like "don't shake hands with a female", "don't work on the Sabbath" or "don't eat pork on every second Tuesday of the month" (I made that last one up). Such distracting rules can lead to the implementation of laws like "you can't sell booze on Sunday", "sex is illegal when money changes hands", or "love is evil when the body parts are similar and so same-gender marriage is illegal". These forms of legislated morality can serve to violate the rights of individuals, punishing them for victimless crimes or restricting their choices in matters that don't affect anyone else. Therefore, legislated morality on victimless crimes, a product of religious thinking, is actually immoral.
Worse still, sometimes religious clutter on issues of morality lead to disastrous and harmful choices. The Catholic Church has discouraged condom use in places ravaged by AIDS. Protestant Churches have pushed for "abstinence only sex education" which has led to increases in teen pregnancy. Religious efforts to block stem cell research has slowed medical progress in curing debilitating diseases like Parkinson's.
Religion is neither necessary nor helpful to understand morality.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
