OP here. I'm not a troll. I didn't have much more to say, besides being surprised about the study. I just thought it was an interesting, if depressing, article and wanted to hear people's thoughts. I have friends of all stripes, and I don't care who believes in what (ok, if you don't believe in evolution, I do judge) - it's how they treat others that matters. I have religious friends who are some of the nicest, most decent ever, and I know religious people who are so closed-minded and nasty, I don't know how they feel they are living a moral life. |
What's a fundie? |
| fundie is a disparaging word for fundamentalist |
| Fundie = fundamentalist |
An athiest is someone who doesn't believe in God. There are no qualifiers or further explanations. needed. Personally I find their need to assert "but I'm still a good person" to be very odd. |
| I find the "I'm a good person" implication by alleged religious people odd. Being a believer or going to church does not equal being a good person. Maybe you are an evil believer. |
Fair enough. But if the subject of this thread is "distrust of atheists," then the PP with the fundie-flattening bus offers a good example why. |
This study says otherwise, doesn't it? When believers think you are worse than a rapist, that pretty much answers why people feel the need to say "but I'm a good person" into anything saying they don't believe in God. |
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To me saying you are a good person doesn't make you morally a good person, Christian or atheist.
Christianity isn't based on being good people - it actually acknowledges that all people are sinners. Unless Christians believe in the Bible they don't have a moral framework anymore than an atheist. many Christians moral frameworks are just as self-developed as an atheist. If one believes the Bible then there is a moral framework detailing what character and behavior is expected of someone who calls themselves a Christian. It still doesn't mean that inherently they are good people as the definition of Christian is salvation that is available to anyone through grace and faith - not through being a good person. One would assume that if someone truly is a Christian then they would have the spirit of Christ in them and therefore the character and behavior of a Christian. None of that changes their humanity, free will or ability to make bad decisions/act poorly. I think people inherently trust Christians more (or people of any faith) because there is a greater chance that they are following a moral framework that isn't self-serving. Just my guess. Why though people think a rapist is somehow morally superior..my only guess would be that they figure a rapists follows societal codes in other areas in order to hide the fact he is a rapist? Not sure |
| The problem with the Bible is that it is open to interpretation. In many instances the truth is what you make it to be. So how is that different than an atheist who decides how to proceed? |
aww, PP - too difficult of a topic for you to comprehend? |
I'm sure there are plenty of rapists who believe in a God. scary |
The truth is what is says - a lot of it is pretty straight forward. Sure some things might be more open to interpretation but most of what is moral or not moral is pretty clearly spelled out. That doesn't mean there aren't 'buffet' Christians who pick and choose what they want to believe but that doesn't change what is written. |
| There are a lot of absurd laws in the bible. I hope people never go back to following them all. |
| Isn't it clear that a white man wrote the bible? |