June 21, 2004
Quote of the Day
...religious morality is like a stopped clock; right twice a day, but always better off ignored. This is because religion bases its morality on what God wants (whether through scripture or tradition or religious authority or divine revelation) rather than what is empirically demonstrated to be good for people and the world we live in. In brief, religious morality, while good for god, only occasionally meets the needs of real people in the real world.
...why do you refrain from stealing what you want and murdering your rivals? Is it really because God threatens you in some mysterious afterlife? or is it because you know you must get along in a world of others and acting in this way would surely turn them all against you? Most people are nice because they've been raised to be so and because it helps them get along in a community of others. God needn't have anything to do with it.
In fact, I would be generally frightened of anyone who said that they would steal, rape and murder if it weren't for the threat of hell. Yet that's exactly what many religious moralists would have us believe; that we would all be reduced to snarling animals without the threat of hell hanging over us. It's nonsense when you think about it. Would you behave this way if God were proven to be imaginary?
Scott Feldstein, on Orkut
Posted by Russell Whitaker at June 21, 2004 06:37 AM | TrackBackGee, this dove-tails perfectly with what I said about gun control advocates believing that statute law is the only thing keeping them from being murdered by their neighbors.
I've often thought that the faith expressed by gun control advocates in the absolute rightness of their beliefs seemed religious. They certainly react the same way as a religious zealot when challenged with facts.
Posted by: Curt Howland on June 21, 2004 10:03 AMThere is no basis of ANY morality without God - think about it. Where does the idea of good come from?
Posted by: Campbell on June 23, 2004 07:30 AMCampbell, you are a *paragon* of logical thinking. So, where _does_ the "idea of good" come from? Let's hear your reasoned support for the belief that morality derives from God... you can start by proving the _existence_ of "God".
Posted by: Russell Whitaker on June 23, 2004 09:15 AM