Arcturus does have a point. Some may see 'the atheist way' as picking morals as you see fit. I see it as thinking deeply about why you do things. There are a lot of things and ideas we take for granted because we grew up with them, and they are the dominant idea where we live. That is how many gruesome things could happen in the past, and you'll find most supporters of the death penalty in areas where it is still applied, for instance.
The trick is to challenge the ideas we take for granted. It also means moving out of your comfort zone. It also means understanding that things rarely, if ever, are as simple as they seem to be.
Then again, I think Frodo does much the same thing, judging from his posts. He'd be reading the bible and think 'but why did it happen that way? What reason could there be? What lesson is there to learn?'
In both cases we try to shift our perspectives to another point of view, and try to understand them.
The trick is to challenge the ideas we take for granted. It also means moving out of your comfort zone. It also means understanding that things rarely, if ever, are as simple as they seem to be.
Then again, I think Frodo does much the same thing, judging from his posts. He'd be reading the bible and think 'but why did it happen that way? What reason could there be? What lesson is there to learn?'
In both cases we try to shift our perspectives to another point of view, and try to understand them.
When I was a Christian, I was annoyed with dogmatic condescending Christians. Now that I'm an atheist, I'm annoyed with dogmatic condescending atheists. Just goes to prove that people are the same, regardless of what they do or don't believe.
