Ask an atheist

[ciphergoth]

In a discussion about religion in wildeabandon's journal, meihua writes: "this seems to have turned into me interrogating you. [...] Is there anything you'd like to challenge me on, instead?"

I think it's only fair enough to open up my own beliefs to the challenges of others, since I'm always keen to respond when theists invite me to give my perspective on some aspect of their beliefs as wildeabandon has in a series of recent posts. So, is there anything you'd like me to respond to?

Rules:

• You don't have to read this thread. This post is an invitation, not a challenge; if you don't like to read me talking about this then feel free to skip this.
• Be honest. Please don't advance arguments you don't personally buy, unless you're also an atheist and you want to discuss how best to counter it.
• If you come to change your mind about the validity of an argument, think about how you can generalise the lesson learned so as not to misassess similar arguments in future.
• Don't just match the politeness of what you reply to, but try to exceed it - see Postel's Law. Otherwise it is very easy to end up with a thread where each contributor thinks they are merely matching the snark level of the other, and yet the thread starts with the very slightest suggestion of rudeness and finishes with "please choke on a bucket of cocks".

Comments

Re: atheism and morality

[emarkienna.livejournal.com]

As an aside, I'd point out that theists have a similar problem: whilst one can assert that something is wrong because God/religion says so, there is no way to show the self-interested bastard that this is really true. He could also justify his actions by saying that this is what God wants.

On the idea that morality comes from God, one question to ask is: Is something good because God says so, or does God say so because it's good?

I also like the point that Dawkins makes that most theists don't really get their morality from religion either, they tend to pick and choose from what their religious texts state, so there must be some independent means by which we decide what is right or wrong.

(Admittedly this doesn't answer the question of how an atheist can decide what is right or wrong, but I think it worth stating.)

Actually, as someone who's always been an atheist[*], I'm curious about people who have switched from being a Christian to atheist, or vice versa, in terms of how, if at all, it affects their views on morality...? Do they suddenly believe, or stop believing, a whole load of moral viewpoints that Christianity teaches, or do they just believe the same thing, I wonder.

[*] - Discounting when I was very little, when I believed in all sorts of things, and had no sense of morality that I am aware of.

Re: atheism and morality

[devilgate.livejournal.com]

I think what started my journey away from Catholicism to Atheism was that I realised I didn't agree with the church's teachings on sex and sexuality.

So I made my moral choice, if you like, and realised that the church I'd grown up with didn't match it.

Re: atheism and morality

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

Me too!