(December 18, 2015 at 6:55 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(December 18, 2015 at 9:53 am)downbeatplumb Wrote: The thing is we quite often get the "if you don't believe in god why don't yu go on a massive killing spree?" the implication is that the only thing holding these people back is their belief. Don't you find that scary? I do.
I'm pretty sure it's more a bad argument for the existence of God, than it is about them actually doing those things if they didn't believe. That would require them to be psychopaths without empathy, and having that mental disorder has nothing to do with being atheist or Christian.
Now while we are talking about rape in this thread, much of what distracts humans from naturalistic answers to anything that happens in life is gap filling in the form of god claims and the concept of religion itself. That is not an attack on you personally, but a criticism of human logic.
Our behaviors be they cruel or compassionate, violent or cooperative, sane or mentally ill, are not a result of a deity or devil. Our species did not start off with our modern understanding if nature or even human behavior. Our species evolved to seek patterns, the downside is that we have a tendency to gap fill. In a very neurological sense our brains do that constantly every day without us noticing. It is why we can mistake sounds for things they are not. Why we can misunderstand the facial expressions of others, why we can pick up the wrong flavor soup at the grocery store because it has a similar packaging because we are in a rush.
Chalking rape up to sin is like chalking up a hurricane to Poseidon. What makes the act of rape bad, isn't that it isn't natural. "Natural" in a scientific sense does not mean desirable to the victim or to their loved ones. It merely means we observe the act in nature. Just like we no longer see Pele the volcano god as being angry at Hawaiians.
Rape unfortunately works in nature, otherwise it would not result in pregnancy. What makes it bad is the physical trauma and emotional trauma to the victim. Much like we react to the damage a tornado causes. We have evolved with empathy which is why, while rape is an unfortunate part of natural reality, most humans will react negatively to it because they have empathy.
Understanding both the good and bad that happen in life through naturalistic means allows us to find ways to minimize the harm that happens. It is why we have gone from blaming the victim for the way they dress to blaming the perp. It is why we understand the behaviors and tactics of the perp. It is also why we have developed support groups for victims. It is because there is a natural psychology to both the perp and the victim.
Where theism goes wrong on is logic, it may bring comfort in explaining why good and bad happen, but they are merely place card placebos. Science explains why rape happens and it also explains why the victim reacts negatively to it. It is also how we catch the perps, in the form of rape kits that can produce body fluids and DNA.
