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Today's Atheist Meme of the Day:
Atheists have morality, as much as religious believers. We just don't think our moral compass is planted in us by God or supernatural forces, and we don't think fear of God's punishment is necessary to be a good person. We base our morality in this life: our empathy with others, and our observations about what causes suffering and happiness. Pass it on.
Here's another one that pisses me off. I'll make my commentary short because so many people have said it so much better than I can. Atheists are "moral", ethical people. We care about others and we try to do good for society. Why? Because we have to live in it. Anyone who says that, without god, there would be no morality, has just told you that the only thing stopping him from raping, pillaging and killing you is that he's afraid he'll get a spanking in the afterlife. It's not because he actually *cares* for you.
I'm suspicious of anyone who gets their morality from a god, particularly one whose "god" speaks to them through a centuries-old book written by ignorant, backwards, misogynistic, patriarchal, old men who had absolutely no way to comprehend today's society. I'm suspicious because they think their sense of morality comes from outside themselves, and is regulated by someone other than them. What holds them back from being immoral is not an internal sense of right and wrong, but someone else telling them what to do.
That means that, if that someone else ceases to tell them what to do, they'll revert to having no morals whatsoever.
That also means that if that someone else tells them to do something atrocious, they will.
I, on the other hand, understand that there is no one who will punish or reward me for my behaviour and all my consequences will be felt in this lifetime, without a way to "undo" them. I also understand that I have a built-in sense of empathy that encourages me to feel compassionate towards people, not just for the sake of rewards and punishments.
I remember as a kid being told to do something that I didn't understand and didn't want to do. But if I was either promised a reward for it afterwards, or threatened with a punishment for not doing it, you can bet that I'd do it. But without that inherent understanding of why I should, or without that internal belief that I should do it even without rewards or punishment, I was susceptible to the temptation that I should not do it, or I should skimp out on the details, or I would not do something similar because I didn't understand the motivation underlying it and therefore couldn't recognize the connection between the two actions.
This is not a "moral" person. This is a child, with a child's sense of narcissism and lack of empathy. This may also be a sociopath. And this is who those religious people who use their god as the motivation for all their "moral" behaviour, are admitting to when they make this claim.
Atheists have morality, as much as religious believers. We just don't think our moral compass is planted in us by God or supernatural forces, and we don't think fear of God's punishment is necessary to be a good person. We base our morality in this life: our empathy with others, and our observations about what causes suffering and happiness. Pass it on.
Here's another one that pisses me off. I'll make my commentary short because so many people have said it so much better than I can. Atheists are "moral", ethical people. We care about others and we try to do good for society. Why? Because we have to live in it. Anyone who says that, without god, there would be no morality, has just told you that the only thing stopping him from raping, pillaging and killing you is that he's afraid he'll get a spanking in the afterlife. It's not because he actually *cares* for you.
I'm suspicious of anyone who gets their morality from a god, particularly one whose "god" speaks to them through a centuries-old book written by ignorant, backwards, misogynistic, patriarchal, old men who had absolutely no way to comprehend today's society. I'm suspicious because they think their sense of morality comes from outside themselves, and is regulated by someone other than them. What holds them back from being immoral is not an internal sense of right and wrong, but someone else telling them what to do.
That means that, if that someone else ceases to tell them what to do, they'll revert to having no morals whatsoever.
That also means that if that someone else tells them to do something atrocious, they will.
I, on the other hand, understand that there is no one who will punish or reward me for my behaviour and all my consequences will be felt in this lifetime, without a way to "undo" them. I also understand that I have a built-in sense of empathy that encourages me to feel compassionate towards people, not just for the sake of rewards and punishments.
I remember as a kid being told to do something that I didn't understand and didn't want to do. But if I was either promised a reward for it afterwards, or threatened with a punishment for not doing it, you can bet that I'd do it. But without that inherent understanding of why I should, or without that internal belief that I should do it even without rewards or punishment, I was susceptible to the temptation that I should not do it, or I should skimp out on the details, or I would not do something similar because I didn't understand the motivation underlying it and therefore couldn't recognize the connection between the two actions.
This is not a "moral" person. This is a child, with a child's sense of narcissism and lack of empathy. This may also be a sociopath. And this is who those religious people who use their god as the motivation for all their "moral" behaviour, are admitting to when they make this claim.
