You create the disease, and then you sell the cure.Having something to sell can make one seem more relevant than one might otherwise seem.
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You create the disease, and then you sell the cure.Having something to sell can make one seem more relevant than one might otherwise seem.
Yep, Snake Oil 101.You create the disease, and then you sell the cure.
About to feed my horses.Yep, Snake Oil 101.
You said the theists were "like atheists" in your OP, or that they were more like atheists for the tepidity of their beliefs. This simply isn't correct. They aren't like atheists at all, because, as I stated, they would most definitely answer "yes" when asked if they believe in God. Basically - there is absolutely no reason to label a theist as "more like an atheist." It simply can't be true. The two terms have opposing meanings. One believes, the other does not. So if one is a "theist" then they cannot be anything like an "atheist" as regards belief in God/gods. It's an automatic exclusion. You can be only one or the other.LOL You misunderstand what I said. I meant that Christians disregard what Jesus reputedly said. As far as I can tell many atheists don't even know what Jesus said so obviously they cannot be fairly accused of disregarding what Jesus said.
Anyway, I apologize for the confusion.
I agree with much of what you're saying here about atheists, and if what you're saying is true about atheists, then the Gospel would have little effect on how atheists live--just like I said. So why are you arguing with me?
You said the theists were "like atheists" in your OP, or that they were more like atheists for the tepidity of their beliefs. This simply isn't correct. They aren't like atheists at all, because, as I stated, they would most definitely answer "yes" when asked if they believe in God.
Basically - there is absolutely no reason to label a theist as "more like an atheist." It simply can't be true. The two terms have opposing meanings.
One believes, the other does not. So if one is a "theist" then they cannot be anything like an "atheist" as regards belief in God/gods. It's an automatic exclusion. You can be only one or the other.
I just don't want to see the terms muddied or sullied due to sloppy usage is all. It happens all the time from the theistic side - where they try and label atheists as "theistic" or "religious."
Constantly see that crap... and I would never even dream of making ambiguous the term "atheist" by doing the same thing in the other direction - that is, call a theist by the term "atheist." It also just seems like a cheap move to try and raise theists' hackles - get under their skin.
Most assuredly this is why the theist does it. They call an atheist "religious", or claim that they just "worship different gods" specifically to try and unnerve them. It's nasty business. Cheap shots. Unnecessary, and not in comport with reality if one actually stops to think it over without relying instead on their emotional response to guide them.
Yes, and that was my point... not yours.Yes, that's one difference between atheists and Christians.
Please then... list for me the "sins" which you believe an atheist is bound to be committing, that the theists you are labeling as "practical atheists" partake in that make you so keen on calling theists out as such. Enlighten me.This is a discussion about behavior rather than professed belief. A "practical" atheist is a person who believes in a God yet who lives much like an atheist might. I'm focusing on lifestyle rather than belief.
This is as ridiculous as it ever was. Can atheists be seen in ritual observance of something or other, or get passionate about some item related to their atheism? Sure... but no definition of "religion" that I have seen doesn't involve some shared social component. A specific set of beliefs and the persons holding those beliefs. Atheists don't HAVE TO believe anything in particular. Not one single thing under the sun must an atheist believe in order to be considered an atheist. I am sure you understand exactly what I am saying, for you write fairly well, and seem pretty intelligent. Now... again, I know you advocate for playing fast and loose with definitions... but I simply must conclude that this is only to be able to use words you know will get under the skin of others when you bend the ideas to fit them into that mold. I don't see any other reason for it. Either you're trying with this OP to get under theists skin by calling them "like atheists" or you're trying to get under atheists' skin by implying that theists act like them. The two groups are, BY BOTH DEFINITION AND LOGIC, mutually exclusive. Religious and atheistic may not be... but you are (and have been) speaking specifically about believers. BELIEVERS. Get it straight in your mind before trying to wriggle out from this.Atheists can act in ways that resemble religion, and they can have gods of sorts. So to describe atheists as acting religiously or having idols has some truth to it.
Yes, and not try to conflate two mutually exclusive groups for the sake of raising the ire of one or the other. Again... logically (not just definitionally) the move is completely unsound - and so what else could you possibly be trying to do?I think it's best to approach these issues with a cool head.
And yet there is absolutely no ambiguity to the idea that "theist" (and by that I am referring to the idea of a "believer" NOT simply "religious" - which you cannot claim you were after, since your point specifically relies on "belief") sits directly opposite "atheist" with no crossover of meaning. one believes, one does not. That is all one can default know when one uses either label - unless you presume to know that atheists are, again, breaking morally applicable principles as a standard of their behavior. And if that is the case, then please describe to me both how you know this, the evidence you have as pertains to that idea, and which moral principles some majority of atheists are falling down on - enough to state, with statistical certainty that one would be hard-pressed to deny, that it is specifically an "atheistic phenomenon."I'd advise you to be openminded about what people have to say including the terms they use. There is a lot of ambiguity to terms like "atheist," and therefore I'd recommend you try to find what is meant by the word by rather than get bogged down in adversarial semantics.
Again... please offer me your ideas of what you thought you were accomplishing then in calling theists "practical atheists?" Why not just state that they don't seem to believe in or venerate their God enough that they feel all of his edicts are worth following? You specifically invoked the terms for the punch it gives your statements. And that punch is (I am quite sure you were hoping for) an emotionally-charged one. You're hoping it smacks people across the face, otherwise you would just speak in the terms of your actual point and not invoke two LOGICALLY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE labels (have I stressed this point enough?) and purposefully try to conflate them.I don't see it that way. Christians and other religious people can be so immersed in their beliefs that they literally cannot imagine a person holding different beliefs. I think that's why Christians tend to see atheists as closet theists.
I don't make the case that atheists cannot act or think as "religious people" do. But I do make the case that atheists cannot act as BELIEVERS (theists) do when their belief is specifically called into the equation. And conversely, believers cannot act "as atheists" as relates their nonbelief specifically - unless by that you mean exactly what I already pointed out above at length, and you are accusing atheists of acts that violate morally unrelated items (items NOT exclusively called into question because "God") on God's "to do list" for believers - which at that point, if that latter bit is what you were proposing, who gives a crap? I mean... besides the theist, who thinks whatever their God says is the best thing for everyone.In summary, I see your way of thinking as a kind of "terminology fundamentalism" which ironically resembles religious fundamentalism where ambiguity and opposing points of view are not tolerated and may even be angrily opposed. If you wish to make the case that atheists cannot act or think like religious people do, then the last thing you should do is express your viewpoints like they do!
Basically, it boils down to this - what you're hinting at with this OP must necessarily be that atheists' activities very much swerve into the realm of going against God's edicts. That's literally the only description of it that makes any sense to say that theists behavior belies some sort of "practical atheism." Because, for sure, you're talking about religious people working or behaving against their own principles (or God's principles, as the case may be) - which indeed assumes that atheists are behaving against those principles by default.
Now... some of "God's principles" are foolish, arbitrary things like "You shall worship no God but me" - and so, fine, atheists go against this principle by not even worshiping in the first place. But is THAT the kind of Godly edict that the theist is cutting against the grain on, in your estimation, that makes these theists "more like atheists"? That is, the innocuous, arbitrary demands of God that have nothing to do with human morality?
I highly doubt that you are referring only to God-belief related ideas when you talk about them breaking from the principles they ought to hold. You're saying they dip into immorality - and that that belies a sense that "God doesn't exist" - otherwise they wouldn't be doing those things. Which implicitly convicts atheists of those same moral transgressions when you call theists "practical atheists" for this behavior.
Please then... list for me the "sins" which you believe an atheist is bound to be committing, that the theists you are labeling as "practical atheists" partake in that make you so keen on calling theists out as such. Enlighten me.
Atheists don't HAVE TO believe anything in particular. Not one single thing under the sun must an atheist believe in order to be considered an atheist.
Now... again, I know you advocate for playing fast and loose with definitions...
The two groups are, BY BOTH DEFINITION AND LOGIC, mutually exclusive. Religious and atheistic may not be... but you are (and have been) speaking specifically about believers. BELIEVERS. Get it straight in your mind before trying to wriggle out from this.
...but I simply must conclude that this is only to be able to use words you know will get under the skin of others when you bend the ideas to fit them into that mold. I don't see any other reason for it. Either you're trying with this OP to get under theists skin by calling them "like atheists" or you're trying to get under atheists' skin by implying that theists act like them.
Yes, and not try to conflate two mutually exclusive groups for the sake of raising the ire of one or the other. Again... logically (not just definitionally) the move is completely unsound - and so what else could you possibly be trying to do?
And yet there is absolutely no ambiguity to the idea that "theist" (and by that I am referring to the idea of a "believer" NOT simply "religious" - which you cannot claim you were after, since your point specifically relies on "belief") sits directly opposite "atheist" with no crossover of meaning. one believes, one does not. That is all one can default know when one uses either label - unless you presume to know that atheists are, again, breaking morally applicable principles as a standard of their behavior. And if that is the case, then please describe to me both how you know this, the evidence you have as pertains to that idea, and which moral principles some majority of atheists are falling down on - enough to state, with statistical certainty that one would be hard-pressed to deny, that it is specifically an "atheistic phenomenon."
Again... please offer me your ideas of what you thought you were accomplishing then in calling theists "practical atheists?" Why not just state that they don't seem to believe in or venerate their God enough that they feel all of his edicts are worth following? You specifically invoked the terms for the punch it gives your statements. And that punch is (I am quite sure you were hoping for) an emotionally-charged one. You're hoping it smacks people across the face, otherwise you would just speak in the terms of your actual point and not invoke two LOGICALLY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE labels (have I stressed this point enough?) and purposefully try to conflate them.
And I said as much. Read for comprehension please.Atheists do act against religious edicts all the time. I know I do.
Morality itself deals with how human beings treat one another, or other living things. How our actions affect other living things to their benefit or detriment. Some things CAN obviously be assessed as being a detriment to another being's life and livelihood, and so that is why those types of things end up on our "no no" lists whether we are religious or not. And that's all I was saying - appealing to the ideas of the majority, which (again, obviously) is really one of the only things that matter when assessing "moral" attributes of various beings' actions. There is no objective morality that applies to the whole universe, obviously, and I NEVER CLAIMED SUCH. All I did was point out that there is large-scale overlap of religious morally-related edicts and non-religious ones in our human societies - and only said that non-morally-driven religious edicts are abject garbage that doesn't deserve a second thought from anyone not stuck in the religion. I can tell you'd like to strawman me with the whole "you believe in objective morality" bit. because then it is so easy to just paint me as irrational, but you're being ridiculous.But religious "edicts" do make up a major part of human morality. You appear to be implying that you know what is truly moral and what isn't. If so, then you are acting like a theist who believes that what God has revealed to him is the "true" morality. Again, although you protest my noting the similarities between atheists and theists, in that very act you prove me right by acting like a theist!
This is trash. Just trash. I am not "interrogating" you - I am pointing out that the particular phrasing and positioning of your point implicitly labels atheists as immoral right out of the gate, because, again, you most likely were not only talking about the non-moral edicts of religion that atheists and theists alike may ignore. You were basically stating that a theist is more "like an atheist" because they break moral edicts. When you can't just generalize that all atheists are immoral people. Which is EXACTLY WHAT YOU DO when you state that for someone to be "more like an atheist" they must be breaking from some established moral code - again, a moral code shared by the religious and non-religious alike (the actual, important bits that we all tend to agree on) - because obviously to point out that atheists who don't believe in God are breaking God-related edicts (that have nothing to do with human morality concerns) is of ZERO consequence or importance - so I can't imagine that that is what you were doing.What you're saying here borders on paranoia. You're interrogating me to sniff out my motives to see if I truly believe that atheists can be immoral not fearing a God of judgment. I am guilty as charged! I know atheists act out of lack of fearing a God. I freely admit that I do.
Ah... so here we are. To be "more like an atheist" a theist must engage in fornication, adultery, lying or murder, right? Those are the things that you believe to be the purview of atheism? So that, to engage in those things, one must be "more like an atheist?" Doing those things makes a person "more like atheists?" Or is it only that, in order to be doing those things, you feel that a theist must not take God very seriously? So, you call them "practical nonbelievers" for all they seem to care about God and His rules. But therein lies the ultimate problem - you didn't use the more impartial term "nonbeliever" - which could be used to even include people of other religions who don't believe in the perpetrator's chosen one. You used "atheist" - and even if you didn't mean to explicitly, you are implicitly stating that atheists are more likely to break from the morally applicable "rules" that all of us tend to adhere to whether we are religious or not. I've already gone around and around on this, so if you don't understand this by now, you aren't going to. All I am saying is that you're giving atheism a bad rap when you call "bad theists" out as being "more like atheists." And I don't like it. There is enough bad juju attached to the term "atheist" without tacking crap like this onto it all.That's a good question whose answer should be obvious. The sins committed by the religious that mirror the activities of atheists include but are not limited to fornication, adultery, lying and even murder.
So what? This means that every atheist MUST positively believe that "no gods exist" in order to be considered an atheist? There is no positive prescription of belief that any atheist MUST adhere to. It isn't like theism in this aspect. A theist, to call themselves a theist, must necessarily have a positively attributed belief in some deity. Period. It's part of the most base definition of the word. An atheist must only lack such a positive belief. You even caveated your wording with this exact thing in mind when you added "assuming those atheists have heard of gods" - because you KNOW it is logically plausible for there to exist a person who is an atheist only because they haven't even been introduced to the concept, and therefore can't have positively attributed belief. You knew this... and yet you decided to push forward and respond as you did anyway.Many atheists believe no gods exist assuming those atheists have heard of gods.
I'm telling you exactly what I am getting from your words... and you haven't exactly been denying that any of it is in there. I don't like what you're saying - whether or not I can "know" your motives. I don't care whether or not I can "know." I care what I am perceiving, and I have told you what that is, and if you don't like that I don't like it - TOUGH. I am going to tell you anyway. And again... you're not exactly trying to explain yourself any better if what I am saying isn't ringing true for you. All you have really been doing is trying to put into question my character or aptitude to understand various things. My accusations have basically been ignored by you. This is tell tale in my opinion. Not that I "know" for sure... but I don't need to. Your behavior will continue to speak for itself, I'd imagine.And how do you know what I'm thinking if you have no God to reveal it to you? The religious tend to believe that they magically know what's in people's "hearts." What you've posted here is very similar to what they might say.
Sure. I'm of the opinion that religion and theistic belief is really nothing but a glorified hobby. So of course there are going to be many things similar between groups of people whose only real differences are their hobbies.Actually, I've argued from the OP that atheists and theists are very similar in many ways including their lifestyles. That's a demonstrable fact.
I don't even think you thought about your OP enough to even get to the issue I have been discussing, honestly. So sure, you had no motives to call atheists out as being immoral actors by default. The motives I was discussing were more the idea that you're using "shock value" to sell your idea... and I have been trying to point out that it is to the detriment of atheists everywhere to make such a point. So, your motive of "shock value" IS relevant to the idea that that "shock value" isn't worth the negative press that atheists are going to incur by lumping them in with "the bad guys" of theistic persuasion. That is what I am arguing... that your attempts to get people to perk up at being called this or that label when you know very well they will have an emotional response, which you probably hope "drives home" the point you're trying to make, is simply not worth the negative attribution it comes with. You may see it differently... but I don't, and I am telling you so. That is what this entire conversation is about. And I will continue to come back at you, responding to your weak attempts to credit yourself with something cogent, for as many times as you deem fit to come back at me with them. Call me what you will ("paranoid")... shame me as you like ("you're acting like a theist")... I literally can't care. Bring it.My motives are irrelevant to the issue of this topic. If you're getting upset by what I'm arguing, then don't read my posts.
It's not the idea that the theist is functionally acting "like there is no God" that I take issue with. I don't gave a crap about that point. Had you just said that alone, it would have been fine. But you basically said that theists are behaving more like atheists when they break moral prescriptions. And these, again, must be moral prescriptions that BOTH SIDES adhere to as (more or less) a standard. Because (again) the only other prescriptions that exist in religions are non-moral considerations - which don't matter a lick to anyone outside the religion. You invoked the term "atheist" - and associated it with the bad behavior of some idiots. That's what I take issue with. THAT. Get it straight.What else could I be trying to do? I'm arguing that many Christians act like there is no God to punish them which is to say they act like atheists. And as it turns out, my idea constitutes heresy as far as some atheists are concerned.
And that is called "cognitive dissonance" - and in case you hadn't picked up on, it isn't something to be proud of. That there exist people who "cross lines" doesn't mean that there aren't lines. Lines that are drawn in the "sand" of logic... such that to break those lines literally makes one illogical or irrational. Like if I stated that I love my neighbor (or even worse, truly believe that I do) and yet only ever treat that person with disrespect and loathing. That's irrational behavior. Behavior that is going to get a stiff rebuking from me. You can say all you want that the person doesn't need to listen to me, so I should just stop talking - but I don't care if they want to hear it or not. That isn't what it is about.Actually, there is ambiguity between the two terms. You appear to think that people cannot hold contradictory beliefs, but people often do hold contradictory thoughts and feelings. So they may doubt God and believe in him at the same time.
This, again, is not a denial or a refutation. Interesting that.Seeing that you can read minds, please don't reveal my billing information or Social Security number.
And I said as much. Read for comprehension please.
Morality itself deals with how human beings treat one another, or other living things. How our actions affect other living things to their benefit or detriment.
All I did was point out that there is large-scale overlap of religious morally-related edicts and non-religious ones in our human societies - and only said that non-morally-driven religious edicts are abject garbage that doesn't deserve a second thought from anyone not stuck in the religion. I can tell you'd like to strawman me with the whole "you believe in objective morality" bit. because then it is so easy to just paint me as irrational, but you're being ridiculous.
This is trash. Just trash.
I am not "interrogating" you - I am pointing out that the particular phrasing and positioning of your point implicitly labels atheists as immoral right out of the gate, because, again, you most likely were not only talking about the non-moral edicts of religion that atheists and theists alike may ignore. You were basically stating that a theist is more "like an atheist" because they break moral edicts. When you can't just generalize that all atheists are immoral people. Which is EXACTLY WHAT YOU DO when you state that for someone to be "more like an atheist" they must be breaking from some established moral code - again, a moral code shared by the religious and non-religious alike (the actual, important bits that we all tend to agree on) - because obviously to point out that atheists who don't believe in God are breaking God-related edicts (that have nothing to do with human morality concerns) is of ZERO consequence or importance - so I can't imagine that that is what you were doing.
Ah... so here we are. To be "more like an atheist" a theist must engage in fornication, adultery, lying or murder, right? Those are the things that you believe to be the purview of atheism? So that, to engage in those things, one must be "more like an atheist?" Doing those things makes a person "more like atheists?"
All I am saying is that you're giving atheism a bad rap when you call "bad theists" out as being "more like atheists." And I don't like it. There is enough bad juju attached to the term "atheist" without tacking crap like this onto it all.
Your behavior will continue to speak for itself, I'd imagine.
You invoked the term "atheist" - and associated it with the bad behavior of some idiots. That's what I take issue with. THAT. Get it straight.
Have been. Maybe an expansion of your vocabulary is in order? I can't be sure.Write for comprehension, please.
It doesn't matter if a few people on fringe don't think it prudent to step on a concrete sidewalk for fear of how the sidewalk might feel about it. I don't care about that... and if the vast majority of people don't care about that, then this item would be exactly as those religion-specific items I spoke of that have nothing to do with what is actually pertinent to human beings as a whole. Baptism, for example. No one need give a crap about people being dunked in water. Sure... if some people want to go about the business of doing that to themselves or each other, have at it... but when they then turn to the rest of the world and state that it is somehow a moral imperative to have children be baptized, and all they have for justification is the religious text that can't be verified (nothing cogent like studies indicating that people survive longer once baptized or that it improves motor function or brain development, etc.), then they have nothing compelling to offer as justification for why everyone who doesn't already do this must necessarily toe their line. This is exactly what I was referring to... and I think you knew that, but again, I feel you're being argumentative just the for sake of that itself. I don't have to recognize goofy items of other people's "morality" unless I am keen on not angering them or making sure to show that I respect them. If I don't respect them, then items like this need not be adhered to or even acknowledged. This may sound callous... but guess what? I don't care about that either. Hahaha.That's true for much morality but not all. Many people would extend morality to how we treat inanimate objects too. I'd recommend you extend your understanding of morality beyond you narrow view of morality.
The above explanation should make you understand where I am coming from. Some things just aren't worth consideration. Sometimes they aren't worth consideration by anyone. That doesn't stop people from considering them - I know this. But their consideration does not make the value of those things go up in any objective sense toward any stated goal of "morality" as it is most basically understood. Treatment of the sidewalk for fear of hurting its feelings does not qualify under standards of morality that adhere to logic and reality. Therefore they need not matter to anyone who doesn't care about them, or doesn't care about the feelings of people who hold those items as moral obligations for themselves and are bent on making others feel the same.With every post you reveal quasi-religious attitudes. Like the religious, you dismiss moral tenets not your own as "garbage" you don't think is worth thinking about.
And explaining why I don't agree with it... you forgot that part, of course. I'm sure that part is a bit of a thorn in your side, hence the reason you'd like to forget it and just be able to accuse me of being "angry" and "religious." Say as you will... my feelings do not matter in this conversation, nor do yours. Your assessment of my emotional state does not change the things I am talking about and stating plainly for you, nor does it change their meaning or cogency. I can tell you'd like to think it does... but you are wrong.You post yet more religious talk angrily dismissing what you disagree with.
Yes, atheists can break laws like anyone else. That has nothing to do with the point I am making. You know the point I am making, so I am not going to repeat it. I am not to be found denying that atheists are just as capable and probably just as likely to break even the most worthwhile and ubiquitous of moral standards. Go ahead and find where I stated that atheists do not act immorally. When you can't find where I said this, then please understand that you are purposefully misconstruing the situation to more easily paint me as being obstinate and irrational. This is underhanded practice. You should clean up your act.It's a fact that atheists do act immorally breaking rules and laws that most people agree should be obeyed. Your denial is very reminiscent of those Christians who insist that "no true Christian" can act in an evil way. Like you, they become very upset if they feel they are being generalized.
That is complete and utter bigotry pointed at atheism then. Those things are not atheist in origin, nor are they to be found more prevalent among atheists. You don't even have a case for stating this. First you need to establish what relationship an immoral act even has to "atheism" - when atheism itself MAKES NO MORAL PRESCRIPTIONS (this is the purview of the religious and theists who believe that a God has made such prescriptions on their behalf!) - and in fact, atheism has nothing to do with morality or immorality. Nothing. Now then... once you have somehow made that impossible link, then further bring me facts and figures that show that people who are "more like atheists" are prone to commit the immoral acts listed, and that people "less like atheists" have statistically significant low numbers of these acts being committed by their ranks. All you have are your own claims that people who act against God's edicts "must not believe." Which is nothing. You have nothing.Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Would never even hint at silencing you. In fact, I have already stated exactly what I will do, which is keep coming back at you, again, and again, and again. Informing you what I think of your drivel and slapping you around verbally. As long as you don't mind my non-silence either! Hahahaha.... you see... here you are again, misconstruing the situation, trying to make me out to be "the bad guy". I have said not one thing indicating that I want you to silence yourself. Instead, I told you to keep brining your crap to the public sphere, and I will faithfully (I am so totally "religious" hahahaha) be there to bring an opposing point of view to the table.If you don't like what I say, then consider silencing me. The religious hate criticism and love censorship.
Again... I don't care that you want to label me "religious." Don't care one bit. I will act according to my principles... which don't include throwing various labels used exclusively for other groups to try and paint my opponent as belonging to those groups, when they so obviously do not. I don't even accept the proposition of something being a "sin." There is very likely no such thing as "sin" - for it to be in existence would require that a deity who had put forth rules is in existence. Since I do not believe in such a thing, I cannot possibly be found to relaying to anyone that they have "sinned." It makes absolutely no sense. Yes here you are... purposefully making no sense, just trying to annoy me. Good luck. Amateur.Forgive me father, for I have sinned!
No, it isn't. You, yourself, even reference the idea in these very sentences that suicide is not solely an atheist phenomenon. The thing you just said would be like finding out that more atheists than theists eat toast for breakfast and concluding that a theist eating toast for breakfast indicates that they are "acting more like an atheist" when it makes no sense to invoke the label unless you are specifically trying to paint it a certain way for onlookers. And all the while, eating toast (or committing suicide) has nothing to do with atheism intrinsically. You're just getting more and more desperate here. You should just quit while you are not even further behind.I do understand that atheists, for example, are more likely to commit suicide than the religious are, so if a Christian commits suicide, then it's fair to say she's acting like an atheist.
Yes, atheists can break laws like anyone else. That has nothing to do with the point I am making. You know the point I am making, so I am not going to repeat it. I am not to be found denying that atheists are just as capable and probably just as likely to break even the most worthwhile and ubiquitous of moral standards. Go ahead and find where I stated that atheists do not act immorally. When you can't find where I said this, then please understand that you are purposefully misconstruing the situation to more easily paint me as being obstinate and irrational. This is underhanded practice. You should clean up your act.
Have been. Maybe an expansion of your vocabulary is in order? I can't be sure.
It doesn't matter if a few people on fringe don't think it prudent to step on a concrete sidewalk for fear of how the sidewalk might feel about it. I don't care about that... and if the vast majority of people don't care about that, then this item would be exactly as those religion-specific items I spoke of that have nothing to do with what is actually pertinent to human beings as a whole. Baptism, for example. No one need give a crap about people being dunked in water. Sure... if some people want to go about the business of doing that to themselves or each other, have at it... but when they then turn to the rest of the world and state that it is somehow a moral imperative to have children be baptized, and all they have for justification is the religious text that can't be verified (nothing cogent like studies indicating that people survive longer once baptized or that it improves motor function or brain development, etc.), then they have nothing compelling to offer as justification for why everyone who doesn't already do this must necessarily toe their line. This is exactly what I was referring to... and I think you knew that, but again, I feel you're being argumentative just the for sake of that itself. I don't have to recognize goofy items of other people's "morality" unless I am keen on not angering them or making sure to show that I respect them. If I don't respect them, then items like this need not be adhered to or even acknowledged. This may sound callous... but guess what? I don't care about that either. Hahaha.
The above explanation should make you understand where I am coming from. Some things just aren't worth consideration. Sometimes they aren't worth consideration by anyone. That doesn't stop people from considering them - I know this. But their consideration does not make the value of those things go up in any objective sense toward any stated goal of "morality" as it is most basically understood. Treatment of the sidewalk for fear of hurting its feelings does not qualify under standards of morality that adhere to logic and reality. Therefore they need not matter to anyone who doesn't care about them, or doesn't care about the feelings of people who hold those items as moral obligations for themselves and are bent on making others feel the same.
Also, you can keep calling me things like "religious." I can't care. Honestly. I know what you think you're doing... but it isn't going to work.
And explaining why I don't agree with it... you forgot that part, of course. I'm sure that part is a bit of a thorn in your side, hence the reason you'd like to forget it and just be able to accuse me of being "angry" and "religious." Say as you will... my feelings do not matter in this conversation, nor do yours. Your assessment of my emotional state does not change the things I am talking about and stating plainly for you, nor does it change their meaning or cogency. I can tell you'd like to think it does... but you are wrong.
That is complete and utter bigotry pointed at atheism then. Those things are not atheist in origin, nor are they to be found more prevalent among atheists. You don't even have a case for stating this. First you need to establish what relationship an immoral act even has to "atheism" - when atheism itself MAKES NO MORAL PRESCRIPTIONS (this is the purview of the religious and theists who believe that a God has made such prescriptions on their behalf!) - and in fact, atheism has nothing to do with morality or immorality. Nothing. Now then... once you have somehow made that impossible link, then further bring me facts and figures that show that people who are "more like atheists" are prone to commit the immoral acts listed, and that people "less like atheists" have statistically significant low numbers of these acts being committed by their ranks. All you have are your own claims that people who act against God's edicts "must not believe." Which is nothing. You have nothing.
Would never even hint at silencing you. In fact, I have already stated exactly what I will do, which is keep coming back at you, again, and again, and again. Informing you what I think of your drivel and slapping you around verbally. As long as you don't mind my non-silence either! Hahahaha.... you see... here you are again, misconstruing the situation, trying to make me out to be "the bad guy". I have said not one thing indicating that I want you to silence yourself. Instead, I told you to keep brining your crap to the public sphere, and I will faithfully (I am so totally "religious" hahahaha) be there to bring an opposing point of view to the table.
No, it isn't. You, yourself, even reference the idea in these very sentences that suicide is not solely an atheist phenomenon. The thing you just said would be like finding out that more atheists than theists eat toast for breakfast and concluding that a theist eating toast for breakfast indicates that they are "acting more like an atheist" when it makes no sense to invoke the label unless you are specifically trying to paint it a certain way for onlookers. And all the while, eating toast (or committing suicide) has nothing to do with atheism intrinsically. You're just getting more and more desperate here. You should just quit while you are not even further behind.