Atheists have leverage points like fear of harm coming to self and family and believers have these same points. But believers also have a whole list of potential fears like fear of hell, the devil and gods wrath so they have more potential leverage points. Agree?
2007-05-27 13:25:50 · 18 answers · asked by Desiree 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Dude, if your argument is contridicted by statistics, that means it has no value. And statistics show that Christians are far more likely to end up in jail than atheists. They also show that religious countries have far higher violent crime rates than secular countries. So your theory doesn't stand up to reality.
2007-05-27 13:36:16 · answer #1 · answered by eri 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I killed a plant once.
How would we know this. Atheists will say yes of course, Christians are in jails, etc., etc., they have no intelligence and Christians will say that atheists have no moral values and we go over and over the same things.
The truth is no one knows. Religions do not commit atrocities, people do and if they do, then its questionable whether they truly believe what their religion (or lack of) stands for.
So, I killed a plant...oh and a fish once, but we gave the fish a funeral...and I leave it at that and for the rest to fight out.
The Ol' Hippie Jesus Freak
Grace, Peace and Love in Christ
Peg
2007-05-27 13:31:28 · answer #2 · answered by Dust in the Wind 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They do terrible harm by brainwashing young minds with their fantastical religious beliefs.
They stifle the ability to learn, to have curiousity about the world around us, and provide explanations that are at complete odds with the world they see around them, and at complete odds with other religious doctrines.
This is a divisive, bigoted and cruel manipulation of innocent children, and is child abuse in the highest degree..!!
Unlike mainstream science, who's concepts and descriptions are uniform across the globe, without borders and provide a uniting understanding of the natural world around us, and which has no agenda other than the altruistic pursuit of knowledge.
The history of religious attrocities is well documented and continues today. They are all potentially very bad people by defualt, and such religious misinformation and outright lies should be considered criminal in the light of todays knowledge and scientific understandings.
Such religious ignorance is intollerable, and those who perpetuate it need to be "enlightened" to say the least..!!
2007-05-27 13:47:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I too think that beleivers have more of a chance, but for different reasons. When speaking to an Atheist, you would have to convince him to commit the atrocity on it's own merit. With a beleiver, you would just have to convince him that the atrocity is what his higher power wants and that he shouldn't question it and he'll be rewarded in death.
2007-05-27 13:33:02 · answer #4 · answered by The Lobe 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Believers use fear of eternal damnation to resist temptation to do evil. It doesn't remove temptation, only counter balances it with a good reason to resist. Atrocities can be committed by both believers and non-believers.
2007-05-27 13:33:50 · answer #5 · answered by nitr0bike 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both are human beings. Both have the same potential to commit sins. We were all born with the capacity to sin. No person is sinless, even Christians. The idea of Christianity is that they will turn away from sin, as they are supposed to repent of them (ask for forgiveness AND turn away from it) and keep faith in God. Atheists might have a fear of harm coming to self and family, but who doesn't? That's why homosexuals stay 'in the closet' for so long; because of fear of rejection.
I have found that genuine Christians (yes, there will always be hypocrites) tend to not sin, and are therefore people I can trust and build relationships with. Sure, I have a lot of atheist friends. We tend to disagree in areas. One, for example, prides himself in telling us how he plans to have sex in college. He also talks of other things like drinking. Of course he doesn't want his parents to know. But there's no escaping God.
I think the reason some stay in atheism is because to admit there is a God is to admit that there is a Holy deity who will hold you accountable for your sins, and know everything you choose to do. Although I would fear going to Hell, why would I want to waste my time in college having empty relationships with people through sex and drinking. The two activities only leave you wanting more, while college is supposed to be for studying (wow, what an idea!)
But we're all humans. We all have a capacity to do good things. God transforms hearts of believers. You know that there are people who call themselves Christians, and then there are people who are Christians. I don't like the hypocrites anymore than you do. I would hope that anyone who claims to be Christian is grounded in their faith through sinless actions and through reading the Bible. When the Bible clearly says things are wrong and "Christians" are doing it, it just makes them look bad.
On a final note, I would consider the shooting at Virginia Tech; with the young man (Cho Seung-Hui) who killed 32 people on April 16, 2007, an atrocity. Murder is a sin. However, so is lying. I am a Christian. It hurts me to think about me lying. If I am about to lie, it really pains me to do so, and I haven't lied in quite a while. I believe this is God stopping me because he has transformed my heart so that I cannot so easily lie. Likewise, I think someone transformed by God would have a very hard time pulling a trigger to murder. Also, I've found that atheists cannot call Cho Seung-Hui evil. They might call the action evil, but they can't call him evil. That fascinates me. We are all born with evil tendencies. It's what things we choose to do that shapes who we are.
2007-05-27 13:45:45 · answer #6 · answered by Thardus 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
T.A.C. makes an EXCELLENT point!
Hitler was a Christian.
Timothy McVeigh was a Christian.
General Augusto Pinochet was a Christian.
....I don't believe Jeffrey Daumer was...
2007-05-27 13:35:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. It does not matter whether you are Christian or Atheist, it depends on the moral fabric of the individual. If atrocities are in your heart and mind, it can come to past regardless.
2007-05-27 13:30:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Look at some of the major ATROCITIES in the past 2000 years and count how many of them are BECAUSE OF religion......almost ALL.
2007-05-27 13:30:08 · answer #9 · answered by DD 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Considerably more likely.
After all, if you're convinced that God is on your side, or that God directly or indirectly sanctions what you do, nearly anything is possible. Torture, rape, murder...all for the greater glory of the deity of the month.
2007-05-27 13:30:24 · answer #10 · answered by Scott M 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋