Is Atheism an excuse to ignore the basic religious Rules of life?

Question

Like: not hurting others (and this has many, many subtitles to it)
My one to mention would be: Thou shall not kill - abortion and all)
Of course the previous sent. is my opinion.

Atlas, you should ask this as a question. Real curious!

Answer 1

Yes it is. Atheists want to be told they are good people and that they do not need to account to anybody or follow anyone's rules.

It is a very empty and fruitless life, though, abortion and all.

Answer 2

No, it's not an excuse, because being atheist pretty much means that you don't believe some higher power runs the world and everyone's lives, and/or you believe science. Those parts of religion are general morals that everyone should live by, and in a lot of cases, they were included as part of the religion because people would only follow them if they believed a higher power could punish them for it.

Comment to some of the previous responses: I am an atheist (I believe science) and I have better morals than about 20 religious people I know, and I am pro-life.

It's also quite ironic how some religious people think that they can break the morality rules of their own religion because other people don't believe the same thing they do.

Answer 3

That's absurd. Spoken from someone who no doubt has no first hand experience with people from different cultures and beliefs, you must be sheltered living in your tight knit church community where they would have you believe utter bull crap like this.

Actually, Atheists Can be and OFTEN are highly moral people.

YOU don't need God or religion to have morals and ponder ethics.
Pondering ethics and thinking deeply about complex moral and philosophical issues is often what BRINGS people to atheism or agnosticism.

I am an atheist and I think abortion is disgusting, it should certainly be completely banned after the 7th week gestation if not all together.

Our laws come from the Common Law of England, NOT from the bible as Christians so often like to say.


HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT MOLESTING CHILDREN IS WRONG, BEATING CHILDREN IS WRONG, OWNING SLAVES IS WRONG, RAPING WOMEN IS WRONG, ABORTION IS WRONG? HMMMM? NONE of those criminal activities, as profound as they are, are specifically meantioned in the bible, although they were very common then.
As a matter of fact, you can find MORE in the bible which would support those criminal activities rather than condemn them.

Answer 4

No. Quite simply we're all part of this clan of humans and even other social primates have rules for living together. Not to say our behavior is circumscribed by the mores of animals but we are AT LEAST that good, on average. So I believe anyway - maybe I'm optimistic.

Answer 5

The Bible is not the only source to suggest that murder is immoral. That's been a given of most civilizations since the beginning of human society.

As for abortion, that's a tricky topic, even among atheists. Many atheists are pro-life, as many Christians are pro-choice. Atheists disagree on abortion just as members of the same Christian congregation often disagree whether, or under what circumstances, abortions are ethical and should be legal.

Answer 6

There were laws like that laid out by people who were not Religious. They did not write any religious documents. Code of Hammurabi, written by King Hammurabi of Babylon, wrote laws for his people long before Moses was even born. Religion has nothing to do with laws like that... Society makes those laws. Abortion is not considered murder in the US as it is a legal procedure... which only shows that Society makes the laws, not Religion.

Answer 7

Atheists do not need to be scared into good behavior. They are born with high intelligence and good souls, which gives them ability to know right from wrong and the desire to see that their good thoughts are turned into good deeds.

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Benny-

If killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis in an immoral and illegal war is not murder – then what is?

If executing innocent people because they could not afford adequate counsel is not murder – then what is?

If failing to provide adequate food and health care to starving deprived children is not murder – then what is?

If Christians burning non-believers at the stake is not murder – then what is?

If conservative Christians bombing Planned Parenthood clinics and killing people is not murder – then what is?


As John Adams (Founding Father and second President of the United States) wondered:

-->"As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them THE MOST BLOODY RELIGION THAT EVER EXISTED?"

-- John Adams, letter to FA Van der Kamp, December 27, 1816

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Colette B –

If your belief is in any way based on the fear of what might happen if you wrong, then God will punish you twice: once for trying to jive him and then again for cowardice.

If there is a god, atheists must certainly be his favorites. Why else would he make them so smart, decent, and good looking?

Answer 8

Religion(or the lack of) should have nothing to do with it.

If a Child is raised right not hurting another person should be embedded in their souls. Only my opinion.
Each Religion has its own guidelines.
If there is one out there that says KILL KILL HURT HURT MAKE THEM SUFFER, I would think that is wrong.
But, that is the way I was raised.

Answer 9

No. Atheists don't have the benefit of confession and absolution.
So in many ways they hold themselves to a higher standard. The unfairness of much religious doctrine IS a motivating factor for seeking a better philosophy than one derived from ancient myths, however.

Answer 10

Sorry Tami

Some of the kindest most loving people I have meant are atheists. Not all but many.

Inversely some of the most hate filled bigots I have ever seen think of themselves as being very religious.

Your question is a generalization and generalizations never work.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 11

Oh really? So you don't support the death penalty, right?

Atheists are the most law-abiding citizen of the US - less than one percent of the jail population is non-religions, while over 10% of the regular poplution is non-religious. Someone who is religious is 10 times more likely to commit a crime. Maybe it's because they get their morality from a book instead of thinking for themselves about what is right and what is wrong.

Your opinion doesn't mean anything if the facts contridict it.