Tautology of the Skeptical Sinner

What a very well thought out and written article at the 15 minute Genius

His/Her question: “But then you have to ask them the question, ‘Why is murder wrong?’ At this the most common answer is because of humanity being of importance. Aetheists would say humans shouldn’t kill humans because humans don’t have the right to. But where would they get or not get this right?”

The ten commandments essentially boil down to one. “Thou Shalt not steal”. Taking something that is not yours without the permission of the owner is wrong. Unless we have that rule, human society would be brutalized by the strong taking away from the weak. We are a society, for a society to function, there has to be some order. But who gets to establish that order?

Early religious leaders realized this, and controlled the masses by letting them know that there was an all powerful being who would punish them for eternity if they broke society’s rules (This was before CSI).

The majority of the moral code in all religions is essentially the rules for a society where the weak are protected from the strong.

Great minds came up with the Bill of Rights. But even then, some still practiced slavery, most mysogyny, but their hearts were in the right place, and the path they illuminated sets us off in the right direction.

Why aetheists are so keen in pointing out the flaws in religion is not (necessarily) to feel superior to those of faith. But to get across the message, you can’t rely on faith to solve this world’s problems.

As an agnostic, I struggle occasionally. I respect people of faith for following sound moral guidelines, but despair because some of these guidelines are so out of date, and taken only as it suits.

Xtians, for the most part, are homophobic, because Leviticus states it’s an abomination. So why don’t we see protests of Red Lobster? Because it no longer suits them to follow those rules.

As we as humans move forward, we will see more and more that the crux of religion is man controlling man through “you must have faith”, “trust in the lord”, “judgement will come” are all ways of saying “Forget about what is wrong in your life right now, just be good, and it will all work out”

I cannot truly say that I don’t believe in the supreme maker. But I do believe in mankind’s ability, and propensity to avert its’ eyes from things that need changing.

Skep