(January 10, 2016 at 10:32 am)robvalue Wrote: The thing is, I "can do whatever I want as long as I don't get caught" too.
As many people have said, I rape, murder and steal just as much as I want to. The amount I want to happens to be zero.
Some people may actually want to do them. Even so, wanting to and doing them are two different things. But if believing in God is literally all that stops you suddenly becoming a borderline psycopath (people in general) then by all means keep believing. I just don't personally believe that most people who think this way would really act how they predict without a god belief. I don't think I've ever heard of a mentally sound person leaving religion and then going nuts. All the stories I've heard are quite the opposite.
I just want to clarify, but I do not think that is the argument at all, at least not one that I am making. I do think that non-believers do show, that they hold to objective moral values (even without belief in God). So therefore if one no longer identifies as a believer, or never was, they can still behave morally. In fact, I would say that a basic inane sense of morality is instilled in all of us. It is difficult to get away from; and even the most adamant moral relativist is going to become quite objective, when the wrong is done against him.
Is it only a lack of desire that keeps you from raping, murdering, and stealing? If you did desire to could your belief or personal preference, make these things moral?
