Religion as a moral compass???

[normiss 644]

Not so fast...

Religion is in fact a very poor moral compass

Interesting article - even the comments.
Seems Christianity is dying.

[jgoose71 0]

Nothing to see here, just another atheist that can only see the bad things done in the name of religion.

As I have said many times before, belief is not a bad thing. The problem with religion has always been that it has been interpreted and taught by man, who is foulable, and the idiots that follow him blindly and unquestionably.

If the evil men of this world didn't have religion to warp to get people to do their bidding, they would target people with something else...

But let's be honest, a person's immortal soul is a pretty sweet target.

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[normiss 644]

Which is pretty much what this piece says - it's a business.

[jgoose71 0]

Yes, some churches are businesses, where the preacher will get up and tell you anything for a buck. Some like the West Borough Baptists are just straight up loonies.

To bad you never hear about the things most churches do on a day to day basis to help the community.

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[jclalor 12]

Video may have killed the radio star... But the Internet is going to kill religion.

[quade 3]

jclalor

Video may have killed the radio star... But the Internet is going to kill religion.

Nope.

Don't get me wrong. It would be awesome to kill off huge parts of religion and especially the parts where leaders use it to manipulate or take advantage of people, but religion isn't going away.

It is far too comforting to those in trouble, which is precisely why it's so easy to manipulate people with it.

Religion's motto might as well be - "We tell lies to people because telling them the truth would cause too many suicides."

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kallend 1,679]

quade

***Video may have killed the radio star... But the Internet is going to kill religion.

Nope.

Don't get me wrong. It would be awesome to kill off huge parts of religion and especially the parts where leaders use it to manipulate or take advantage of people, but religion isn't going away.

It is far too comforting to those in trouble, which is precisely why it's so easy to manipulate people with it.

Religion's motto might as well be - "We tell lies to people because telling them the truth would cause too many suicides."

Telling lies is protected by the 1st Amendment.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[quade 3]

kallend

Telling lies is protected by the 1st Amendment.

That's mostly correct until it rises to the level of fraud. Why some religions aren't considered fraud is beyond me.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[D22369 0]

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That's mostly correct until it rises to the level of fraud. Why some religions aren't considered fraud is beyond me.

because its faith, and cannot be disproven no matter how ridiculous the claims made...

reality scares people and some will always need to cling to fairytales.

Roy

I have said it before here on dz.com - I am quite jealous of those who really believe - I wish I could have the comfort and security they have, but I cannot force myself to believe.

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[wmw999 2,175]

I'd agree that Richard Dawkins isn't the most unprejudiced source on the topic of religion .

The other extreme is the "religion is the only/best moral compass.

Hopefully most of us go somewhere in between, and are tolerant (that's the evil T-word) of others' compasses as well.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[devildog 0]

normiss

Not so fast...

Religion is in fact a very poor moral compass

Interesting article - even the comments.
Seems Christianity is dying.

Dawkins is a pretty piss poor philosopher of religion. The below is a short read that pretty much shows how ridiculously bad and out of his expertise he is.

http://www.amazon.com/Dawkins-Delusion-Atheist-Fundamentalism-Denial/dp/083083446X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380477733&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dawkins+delusion

"The God Delusion makes me embarrassed to be an atheist, and the McGraths show why." - Michael Ruse

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[quade 3]

devildog

Dawkins is a pretty piss poor philosopher of religion.

I also understand he's particularly bad at being a pastry chef. Then again, I don't think he's ever claimed he was one. Dawkins main concern seems to be the fight between science and religion, and the inability of some religions to recognize certain facts about the universe, like the Catholic church when they tenaciously held on to the belief of earth being the center of the universe. If you don't accept the fact the earth goes around the sun and not the other way around, it's exceptionally difficult to move toward the ultimate truth of how the universe works.

Likewise, with any one of a number of other modern day issues with regards to religion vs science.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[rickjump1 0]

normiss

Not so fast...

Religion is in fact a very poor moral compass

Interesting article - even the comments.
Seems Christianity is dying.

"..... if you actually look at the bible or the Koran, and get your moral compass from there, it’s horrible – stoning people to death, stoning people for breaking the Sabbath.

Now of course we don’t do that anymore......."

Is this wizard being sarcastic or conveniently being chicken shit as to who is still stoning people to death? Rather vague for a man with such strong convictions.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[jakee 1,280]

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Dawkins is a pretty piss poor philosopher of religion.

"Philosopher of religion". The oxymoron to end all oxymorons!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[RonD1120 58]

I don't spend much time thinking about religion as a moral compass. I think about Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior from spiritual death and the way to spiritual eternal life.

Wait a minute, is this a Christian troll. GeorgiaDon thinks I'm a Christian troll. Are you one as well?

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[champu 1]

rickjump1

Is this wizard being sarcastic or conveniently being chicken shit as to who is still stoning people to death? Rather vague for a man with such strong convictions.

When an atheist who espouses science criticizes religion and you call him a wizard, you have to admit that's rather amusing.

That said, his point was that the foundational texts for religions haven't changed, and yet what is considered "moral" or "just" based on the interpretation of them has. From that observation he concludes it was never the religious texts driving morality in the first place, even if they are used as a tool to communicate some of the moral principles of the day.

[rickjump1 0]

champu

***Is this wizard being sarcastic or conveniently being chicken shit as to who is still stoning people to death? Rather vague for a man with such strong convictions.

When an atheist who espouses science criticizes religion and you call him a wizard, you have to admit that's rather amusing.

That said, his point was that the foundational texts for religions haven't changed, and yet what is considered "moral" or "just" based on the interpretation of them has. From that observation he concludes it was never the religious texts driving morality in the first place, even if they are used as a tool to communicate some of the moral principles of the day. Maybe the "Wizard of Oz"?
Sunday Morning Christians have been around a long time. It's what they do after church. Didn't Hitler meet the Pope?
Nothing new here.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[Stumpy 256]

normiss

Not so fast...

Religion is in fact a very poor moral compass

Interesting article - even the comments.
Seems Christianity is dying.

Dawkins is as bad as a lot of the religious people he is so against.
He's living proof of the fact it's not just what you say but also how you say it. While in principle I agree with a lot of what he says, (and some of his earlier books, the blind watchmaker and the selfish gene in particular are spot on and explain why creationism is such nonsense) he comes across as a headcase.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[GeorgiaDon 340]

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Wait a minute, is this a Christian troll. GeorgiaDon thinks I'm a Christian troll.

Did you actually write those words, or just copy and paste them from some anonymous source to provoke a reaction?

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[GeorgiaDon 340]

Quote

Sunday Morning Christians have been around a long time. It's what they do after church. Didn't Hitler meet the Pope?
Nothing new here.

???

Are you suggesting real Christians still follow Leviticus and Kings? If you don't believe in stoning people you're just a "Sunday Morning Christian"?

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[RonD1120 58]

I got this list from our sermon in church tonight. It represents the unlikely people God has used. They were religious for their time. I think it illustrates the lack of a religious moral compass.

Quote

~ Noah was a drunk

~ Abraham was too old

~ Isaac was a daydreamer

~ Jacob was a liar

~ Leah was ugly

~ Joseph was abused

~ Moses had a stuttering problem (Moses stuttered)

~ Gideon was afraid

~ Samson had long hair and was a womanizer

~ Rahab was a prostitute

~ Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

~ David was an adulterer and a murderer

~ Elijah was suicidal

~ Isaiah preached naked

~ Jonah ran from God

~ Naomi was a widow

~ Job went bankrupt

~ John the Baptist ate bugs

~ Peter denied Christ

~ The disciples fell asleep while praying

~ Martha worried about everything

~ The Samaritan woman was divorced (more than once)

~ Zacchaeus was too small

~ Paul was too religious

~ Timothy had an ulcer

~ Lazarus was dead!

***Unknown Author***

The point is when you have the gift of the Holy Spirit, what Christ gives us when we surrender to Him, your moral compass is determined by a series of course corrections.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[jakee 1,280]

Quote

Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
Naomi was a widow
Zacchaeus was too small
Timothy had an ulcer
Lazarus was dead!

Those amoral bastards!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Puntas 0]

I quit believing in magic years ago.

[rickjump1 0]

GeorgiaDon

Quote

Sunday Morning Christians have been around a long time. It's what they do after church. Didn't Hitler meet the Pope?
Nothing new here.

???

Are you suggesting real Christians still follow Leviticus and Kings? If you don't believe in stoning people you're just a "Sunday Morning Christian"?

Don

"With exceptions", the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament led to a more peaceful transformation of the Bible contrary to Leviticus and Kings.
Real Christians? I haven't met any "real" Christians who believe in stoning people, nor have I met any "real" Christians who were totally without sin. You might say I am a "Sunday Morning Christian". Although I attend Church, I have a problem: I like to spend time in bars.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[billvon 2,476]

>Real Christians? I haven't met any "real" Christians who believe in stoning people, nor
>have I met any "real" Christians who were totally without sin.

Agreed. Although ironically, your definition of "real Christians" means Christians who do not entirely believe in the Bible; presumably fake Christians would believe in the Bible to a greater degree. (Not believing everything in the Bible, of course, is in general a wise path to take.)