Quote from Shirono "I'm a decent, kind and thoughtful person...and I'm an Atheist"
That is because you were raised in a Christian realm, in a nation that has a culture founded on Christian principles, which came from the Western world that has been heavily shaped by Christianity for 2,000 years.
You operating in a manner reflecting the few latent Christian elements and presuppositions that remain in our culture in no way reflects your point. Rather, it entirely mitigates it.
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Yeah. Another increasingly popular canard. "Atheists are only moral because they are copying Christians!". Or something to that effect. I am afraid that empathy, the golden rule, a sense of fairness, and a general unwillingness to kill people close in proximity and willingness to help people close in relationship are nearly universal, and not derived from your religious dogma. Much of the moral zeitgeist we experience today is inspite of what your religion would suggest. So, STFU.
Amongst the lowest murder rates per capita: (according to the UN)
Japan (0.00499933 per 1,000 people, 60th highest in the world)
Saudi Arabia (0.00397456 per 1,000 people, 61st highest in the world)
Qatar (0.00115868 per 1,000 people, 62nd highest in the world)
Not exactly Christian nations.
Now, let's look at your special Christian nation:
United States (0.042802 per 1,000 people, 25th highest in the world)
hmmm....almost ten times higher than Japan.
So, by your reasoning, since, for example, Japan is probably the best nation in the world at practically everything, we should all become Zen Buddhists? I'm in.
"So, by your reasoning, since, for example, Japan is probably the best nation in the world at practically everything, we should all become Zen Buddhists?"
Allow me to nitpick: Most people here aren't Buddhists at all. They say you are born and live as a Shintoist and die as a Buddhist.
But yeah, i was going to make the same point. I mean, that's clearly the reason why the japanese people are all so violent, thoughtless, rude and out of control.
@Mortok. Assuming your talking about australia. I dunno we've got our fair share of murderers, fucktards and ultra stupid people. More than our fair share I should say.
Plus the nation was founded on christianity as well.
Hence the killing, rape and enslavement of the local native population. Well that and there wasn't enough resources considering the population sky rocketed once the place was colonized from about thirty people in the area to about thirty thousand. Probably more.
I think the word you meant was "negate" not "mitigate", next time try using the right words. It makes you look less retarded. Of course, even if you hadn't used the wrong word your argument is still retarded.
and I'm an atheist and I don't get my morals from Christianity, most of my ethics originated from secular moral/ethical theorists like John Stuart Mills and others.
Cultures that have not had contact with the Western world are growing increasingly scarce. However, these cultures are not generally more violent, dishonest, chaotic, etc. than any other. The point is that the values espoused by Christ (summed up: don't be an asshole all the time)are values that people before Christ to the dawn of human culture probably cherished if not practiced. The universality of these values is what makes them appealing to people when articulated so carefully by mots such as "turn the other cheek" and "love your neighbor as yourself". In fact, I would argue that at least initially, the success of Christianity lay in peoples willingness to try to get along for a goddamned change, because it suited them to do so. So where do the values comes from? [Prepare to cringe, fundies]-- Evolution. Human societies 150,000 years ago lived on the edge of survival, and primarily consisted of small, hunting and gathering kin groups. Cooperation was essential to survival of the individual because it was essential to the survival of the group. Think about it...how long could a 5 foot tall naked human without recourse to tools or weaponry survive on the African savannah without the protection of the kin group? It seems reasonable that an innate desire to get along with others is advantageous in that environment.
My wife is an extremely generous and loyal atheist, and she grew up in Russia, which has very little Christian influence. But of course, we all knew Atlantians was pulling this out of his/her ass.
If that were true, we'd have a lot less Christians who act like fucktards all the time.
Oh wait, they aren't true christians...
No, it's because we all were raised in the Western realm, which has a culture founded on Enlightenment principles. It was when the West moved AWAY from Christian principles, which shaped the Medieval times, that we started to prosper, to work for human rights, democracy, decency.
Christian principles, Jewish principles and Muslim principles are pretty similar, seeing as you all have the same source and the same deity.
Sure, Matthew 25:35-45 does have a bit of "decent, kind and thoughtful" to it, but few religious rightists bother to follow it.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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