One key argument used by atheist to undermine religions is that many of them has books that clearly justifies rape, manslaughter and several other things that must be fundamentally evil.
In many cases this argument does not hit as hard as it should against individual believers, because they have found ways to interpret the scruptures so that these passages have other meanings, and the evil acts are not part of the individual belief.
When atheists attack these believers based on bad morals I sometimes feel like they are throwing dirt in their own eyes. Having no morals is not necessarily better then having bad morals. As far as I understand, atheism is based on a disbelief of gods, which don't automatically point in the direction of a moral code.
So, I'm wondering if there is some kind of moral code that all atheists would be bound by, which could justify these arguments. And if there is, where is it derived from?
In many cases this argument does not hit as hard as it should against individual believers, because they have found ways to interpret the scruptures so that these passages have other meanings, and the evil acts are not part of the individual belief.
When atheists attack these believers based on bad morals I sometimes feel like they are throwing dirt in their own eyes. Having no morals is not necessarily better then having bad morals. As far as I understand, atheism is based on a disbelief of gods, which don't automatically point in the direction of a moral code.
So, I'm wondering if there is some kind of moral code that all atheists would be bound by, which could justify these arguments. And if there is, where is it derived from?
