(June 25, 2015 at 10:17 am)Rhondazvous Wrote: What strikes me as odd is that even though its the deities and theists who have proven over and over again that they are capable of untold evil and ruthlessness, some people still buy into the idea that dispensing with god means dispensing with basic human sentiments like empathy and compassion
When the cat's away, the mice will play? That is unworthy of a thinking adult who claims to have put away mindlessness. What is the point of evolving if we're going to continue acting and thinking like theists and lower life forms. Lions jumping on the flanks of zebras, eating them as they run for their lives and not giving a thought to how the zebra feels about this. Survival of the fittest. Yea yea humbug. Those who hold to social Darwinism betray that they are not willing to evolve beyond the mindless, blind watch maker. But I'm glad to see those who hold themselves to a higher standard.
First of all, it is just a myth that people need such a thing as religion or belief in god to be moral. This bit of Christian propaganda is something that many atheists cling to, for no reason worthy of the name. Think of all of the atheists who were former Christians. Do you know any of them who ran amok when they gave up their religion? If you were religious yourself, are you running out of room in your cellar due to it being full of dead bodies from your activities since you gave up your religion? That religious people often claim it is necessary is as worthless as their claims that Jesus talks to them.
This is just another part of the religion virus, that helps it continue. They have suckered atheists into believing that it is good if their neighbors are religious, and so they are less inclined to help them come to know the truth. This tactic is a bit like the doctrine of hell for the Christians, to use fear to keep people from leaving the religion. It is just pure bullshit. But psychology tells us that if a lie is repeated often enough, people tend to believe it, and so we have many atheists believing this religious nonsense that religion is necessary to keep people in check.
Your analogy of the lions and the zebras, though, is not apt. Humans torture and kill other types of animals all the time, and most of them not only have no problem with it, but are adamant that it is right and proper and should continue.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
