Role Models

[Duty]

Because, without God, it's up to us to make a decent, fair world. We're obliged to be moral. Theists can and do, as you say, just "recline in God's arms." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the number one reason I disdain religion. That and the lack of logic and/or evidence for any gods' existence.

Why? People aren't obliged to be moral, with or without God. I used to know two atheist brothers (in real life) who would hold you at knife point if you had nice shoes. I'm pretty sure they didn't feel "obliged to be moral".

They just hadn't thought it through properly, just like their old acquaintance Ahriman, by all appearances.

[Spongebob]

Why? People aren't obliged to be moral, with or without God. I used to know two atheist brothers (in real life) who would hold you at knife point if you had nice shoes. I'm pretty sure they didn't feel "obliged to be moral".

Point of distinction here.  Being an atheist does not in anyway convey what sort of ethics one has; it just indicates what they believe in regarding gods and the afterlife.  What I mean when I say "atheists" is usually meaning humanists.  We are atheists who adhere to a humanist philosophy because atheism is not in itself a philosophy at all.

[Silver]

Well, the old adage doesn't lie: the willingness to believe in god opens your mind to all sorts of nonsense.

[downbeatplumb]

Who are some of your role models? Some of mine would be Rupert Murdoch, Aldous Huxley, and George H. W. Bush. I believe these three people are visionaries, capable of seeing far beyond the present situation, whose intellects are focused on achieving some grand ideal, for the greater good of humanity. Very much "what could be" people.

Rupert Murdoch because, he is an incredibly wealthy person with heavy influence on what kind of media people consume. In other words, exactly the kind of person I want to be.

Aldous Huxley because, I see him as a kind of mad genius, with some brilliant imaginations for how he wanted society to function.

George H. W. Bush because, I like that speech he gave, about man's way of doing things, and nature's way of doing things, and how the "law of man" would come to rule human affairs.

Terry Practchett, not just because he was a great writer, but because of his social conscience.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Because, without God, it's up to us to make a decent, fair world. We're obliged to be moral. Theists can and do, as you say, just "recline in God's arms." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the number one reason I disdain religion. That and the lack of logic and/or evidence for any gods' existence.

Why? People aren't obliged to be moral, with or without God. I used to know two atheist brothers (in real life) who would hold you at knife point if you had nice shoes. I'm pretty sure they didn't feel "obliged to be moral".

Who are you to say that stealing shoes at knife-point ISN’T moral?

Boru

[Ahriman]

Why? People aren't obliged to be moral, with or without God. I used to know two atheist brothers (in real life) who would hold you at knife point if you had nice shoes. I'm pretty sure they didn't feel "obliged to be moral".

Who are you to say that stealing shoes at knife-point ISN’T moral?

Boru

I wouldn't consider it moral.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Who are you to say that stealing shoes at knife-point ISN’T moral?

Boru

I wouldn't consider it moral.

Why not? 

Boru

[Ahriman]

I wouldn't consider it moral.

Why not? 

Boru

I would never need shoes badly enough to rob someone of them.

[The Architect Of Fate]

That's not a reason why it's morally wrong

[Spongebob]

Why not? 

Boru

I would never need shoes badly enough to rob someone of them.

Do you understand the concept of a question and an answer that is actually related to the question?