I would venture to say this is the same with you. Oh sure you give God credit
I don't give God credit for anything.
but do you honestly think your morality would be different if the only thing different about you was that you had a different view of religion? If so, then you might want to consider if you really are a good person at heart or if you're doing it for praise.
on a personal level, in my case (which is the only case I can speak about with any authority) I would say that throughout my adult life, even when I was an atheist, I was reasonably moral, with my faults. Theism, however, has tended to reduce my feeling of separation from other sentient beings, resulting in a greater feeling of empathy and compassion.
It'll be different for every individual, but I believe that is the general trend.
LOL. You think so? I think some theists do, while other theists hate and murder our fellow human beings. Some even use their theism as an excuse.
If and when they do that they're wrong. It's a practice much more common and intense in moral systems which expressly forbid theism.
Western Christianity is not this way as much as it used to be, but it is still very much self-serving.
Is it? Or is it just that your mind focuses on the self-serving bits rather than the huge charitable part?
What matter are atheists required to keep silent on? You seem to continue to object because atheism is not an organized church that makes press statements.
There is no central dictat, but then that is not needed. They commonly keep silent on the consequences of moral and political systems that have shared their exclusive materialism.
If anything, atheists are more moral than theists because they don't seek recognition when they do something good.
well, we just saw Bill Gates
Having been exposed to theists all my life, I've discovered that they are just humans. Some of them are more moral than others.
Agreed.
Some of the "positive moral exhortations typical of theism" amount to people who blame natural disasters on sinners. Some theists exhort people to send money to their television mission. Some prey on the elderly and grieving by promising them communication with the dead that they cannot deliver.
Yeah. Some.
This whole "Theists are more moral than atheists" tack is a losing one, Plumjam, and a thinly veiled insult at people who, for the most part, are every bit as moral as you. And you are by no means the first theist to make such insulting statements. Is insulting those who don't share their religion part of their "positive moral exhortations"? It sounds pretty hateful to me. I'm glad most theists don't feel this way.
If you interpret all this as insulting that's your prerogative. It wasn't meant as an insult; I started the thread to try to get atheists to face up to the 'what next?' aspect of their belief system... which IMO is basically a big nothing.
I would never say any individual atheist is likely to be less moral than any individual theist. But there is massive denial about the dangers of exclusive materialism when that philosophy is allowed to be expressed in the form of moral and political systems.
I don't believe this has yet been fully admitted or reflected upon by the great majority of atheists.
Further to that, the kind of politicking in favour of exclusive materialism going on recently.. if that were translated into political power, I'm sure the great majority of atheists here would be horrified by the end results.
Sure, it's not likely to get far off the ground, but the likely consequences if it did are not something ever honestly addressed here.
