Slimebeast said:
I know but it should be, you should have incorporated it there, because the (non)sense of Abrahamic religions and sinning gets dwarfed by the fact that morals don't exists. It's the same. The dilemma and lack of sense is the same! * The religious walks around and believes his choices in life matter for his own salvation or damnation - when in fact no choices exist because everything is already pre-determined and known by God. * The atheist (or anybody, really) walks around and believes his choices in life matter and tries to do right instead of wrong with the assumption that his choices and behaviour will be judged by himself and anybody around him - when in fact no choices exist because everything is already pre-determined by the construction of your biological machine and external input. Both of these persons walk around in an illusion thinking morals exist and that personal choices matter. One with the goal to end up in Heaven, the other with the goal to make his life enjoyable or to make the world a better place - but both walk around in an illusion that makes no sense (the illusion that your choices matter). You shouldn't only adress the (non-)sense of the former but also the (non-)sense of the latter. Else you are intellectually dishonest. |
You make a good point.
The thing is though that when an atheist get the idea that everything is determined, then he won't really change a lot as a person. His opinions will pretty much stay the same. A religious person on the other hand would have to question his entire lifestyle and go: "Hmm... Maybe there is no reason to look down on homosexual people? Maybe circumcision should be up to the child to decide once it grows up, since it doesn't really matter to God anyway? Maybe I shouldn't look down on people who has sex before marriage? Maybe it's okay to file for divorce if the couple is unhappy?" (Those questions obviously differ from person to person.)
After all, the purpose of this thread is to stop unnecessary pain which is caused by unjustified religious rituals, which does not apply to atheists.