Morals without God

[Witcher]

(07-11-2010 12:33 PM)prairieson Wrote:  

(07-11-2010 12:21 PM)howoldami Wrote:  ... but if religion creates morality, why are there so many religious people in jail?

1. People are just that, people... less than divine and prone to falter.

2. More likely reason... These people are most likely not religious, but do claim a religion, which I might suspect is true of most people, in or out of prison, who identify with a specific religious system.

People are quick to claim religion and slow to follow the faith.

I agree with you completely and not everyone in jail is guilty for what he's charged.But still this "religious" people is quick to making sin knowing that God will forgive them lightly, they fail to understand the true meaning of redemption, confesion and struggle with the sin, in some religion.

[howoldami]

(07-11-2010 12:33 PM)prairieson Wrote:  

(07-11-2010 12:21 PM)howoldami Wrote:  ... but if religion creates morality, why are there so many religious people in jail?

1. People are just that, people... less than divine and prone to falter.

2. More likely reason... These people are most likely not religious, but do claim a religion, which I might suspect is true of most people, in or out of prison, who identify with a specific religious system.

People are quick to claim religion and slow to follow the faith.

Very true, I especially like your last statement.

One of the things I found the most interesting about the prison poll, is the number of atheists in jail. Some polls claim that up to 14% of Americans are atheist, yet only 0.209% of people on that poll claim atheism. So, if incarceration is any kind of representation of morality, then I feel that is a good indicator that one does not have to believe in a god to be moral.

And if we are going to discuss morality, then I think Nihilists need to be discussed. That is an interesting viewpoint that I, admittedly, really don't understand. As an atheist, I don't believe in gods, theists believe in gods. But Nihilists, they believe in nothing. No morality, no laws, nothing. I've always found that quite peculiar.

[Alpha]

Perhaps it's not so much about a god... but the concept of god

God embodies an unprecedented goodness; he epitomises all the noble and wonderful attributes that man fail to achieve. He represents a source of purity that trascends the fathomable physical confines of this planet.

When you believe in something like that, the sense of hope accomodating it is simply bliss and it encourages people to adhere to morals and ethics