"You seem unaware that you are simply cherry picking transcendent ethics for that which suits your fancy, while rendering the very concept of ethics meaningless."
You surely like to put your feet in it, don't you?! Your knees, too!
It is you who claims that only ONE of all the transcendent belief systems is the TRUE one (YOUR imagination is so much more TRUER than theirs!). So you capriciously cherry-pick one out of thousands of such systems. Then you wade through all the irrationalities, contradictions, cruelties, absurdities, and inanities, and you cherry pick those which are least offensive to the human heart and mind. My, my! You could bake yourself a pie!
"If you want to play that game then don't forget the millions of people that suffered as a direct result of extreme fundamentalist Atheism"
There is no such thing. Atheism has no creed, and it does not advocate killing anyone or breaking any laws whatsoever. You might try looking it up in a dictionary before you shoot off from the lip with such wild and ridiculous mouthing.
"The odd thing is that only under the transcendent system can the killing of innocent victims be truly deemed wrong."
So, if you did not believe in God (the Christian one) you would then not consider killing innocent people wrong? Presumably, then...you would have no compunction against doing so. And presumably you believe that the great majority of the world who belong to other religions or other philosophies than Christianity have likewise no compunction against killing the innocent? Well, I think you have dragged the concept of blind and stupid right under the snake's belly. What is the matter with you lately??
"No it does not "require" anything of the sort. It can include such things if that's the way you feel, but it also includes killing anyone who interferes with you going for your gusto"
More nonsense from you. Of course it requires justice and kindness. Rationality comprehends the dependency of the individual upon the State and upon other individuals. It comprehends the manner in which the preservation of life depends upon the peaceful coexistence of people and upon good will, cooperation, and protection of person and property. In order that the rational values of freedom and safety be furthered, it is necessary that people work together in common to preserve the values which encourage survival and happiness--in other words to administer justice and to offer kindness.
The Dark Ages called torture and murder "justice". That is because they had a morality based on "might is right"; and others must be forced to think superstitiously as they did (and not merely superstitiously...but the "right" superstitiously--the OUR brand of mysticism)!
What did the superstitious always attack? REASON. What did the Church attack and punish so that the greatest minds were forced into silence? REASON. What did Luther hate as much or more than he hated the Jews? REASON. Why do they hate reason? Simply this: because reason opposes the morality of "might is right" and ethics derived from rational self interest argue against the superstitious position that everyone else is shit and deserving of eternal torture. In a mystical basis for morality there can be no morality because it must always start and end with "our imagination is better than yours and the rest of you infidels can stick your reason up your ass."
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"In the social creatures referred to as Homo sapiens there are certain behaviors which rationally lead to profit. These include..."
"Murder, rape, theft, deceit, etc etc etc...."
What a contemptible remark! First, you implied that you would act immorally if there were no (Christian) God to believe in (there being no other basis in your unique and weird weltanschauung for behaving in a civilized manner). Now you go beyond inanity by implying that rationality is associated with "Murder, rape, theft...". Have you thought of giving up your pots for a comedy act?!
You think there is something about rape which helps to preserve ones life? Or perhaps you think it is rational NOT to preserve ones life and live in safety? Suicide as an ultimate goal ("going for your gusto" as you call it)?! Or perhaps it is just that you don't have a clue. Does that fit better?
Most murders are committed in moments of passion. Rational? Hardly! There is normally nothing rational about it. And it certainly does not promote self interest in any rational way. Murderers, rapists, and thieves lose their freedom when caught--and often their lives. Their lives are never safe and they certainly do not preserve their lives by becoming the enemies of society where most hands are turned against them.
But, BAH! You have been sniffing the pot glaze once again. How ironic if that should turn out to be the problem! (Just trying to make you laugh)!
Have you not read just a little history and noticed that freedom and individual rights correspond to the rise of reason in culture after culture? That civilizations moored in primitive superstition are associated with murder and torture; and "might is right", and we are right, and we are might is their highest moral ideal? You have not known that intelligent humans have needed to hide their findings of science and reason in order to preserve their safety--and indeed their lives? That in a superstitious society, all reason must be hidden from the Inquisitors?
But perhaps you have read no history. Are you incapable then of seeing what is immediately in front of your eyes? That where reason is the hearthstone of society, there is a corresponding emphasis on human dignity, freedom, and rights--in short, a civilized society? And are your eyes so scaled with fanatical "inerrancy" that you fail utterly to connect daily cruelties, murders, and bombings on a massive level with the superstitious claims of the perpetrators? Do you think the Church ever ran a more moral society than reason does? LOL! Hanging teen-aged girls for witches is acting morally on a transcendent basis? No, Greg. It is just acting on a transcendent basis. The moral thing is that the murderers should have been executed.
You don't see how separating the Church from wielding political power has benefited humanity and allowed reason to create moral societies? Perhaps your fanaticism has blinded you in both eyes. |
