Nine countries are on the path to complete atheism.

Rational Public Radio ^ | 3/22/11 | Scott Connery

[circlecity]

The ultimate conclusion of atheism is always nihilism. Further, it's clear that the roots of atheism are almost always moral rather than intellectual.

[Scottmkiv]

What makes you say atheism always ends up with nihilism? Obviously it can, but what requires it to do that every time?

What about atheists like Rand who clearly aren’t atheists?

Why do you say atheism is always a moral argument and not intellectual. The intellect determines morality, so I’m not sure how this difference is meaningful. Even if I grant the distinction, what is wrong with making a moral argument?

[circlecity]

"The intellect determines morality"

No it doesn't. A guilty conscience is not a work of the intellect at all but is a classic example of innate morality at work. And the ultimate end of atheism being nihilistic is dictated by the fact that there is objective basis for morality under atheism. That Rand does not have the courage to follow her philosophy to its logical conclusion is of no moment.

[Scottmkiv]

If you argue that the intellect doesn’t determine morality, you must either argue that man is born with a fully formed sense of morality, or that it is divinely revealed to each and every person.

Please provide evidence of either.

[circlecity]

"If you argue that the intellect doesn’t determine morality, you must either argue that man is born with a fully formed sense of morality, or that it is divinely revealed to each and every person. "

It's both and the evidence is overwhelming. A general morality is written on every man's heart - the conscience. Even a child knows that lying, stealing, cowardice and betrayal is wrong. That is why those traits are never admired or respected in others. The universality of this phenomenon throughout the recorded history of human experience testifies to this. We may disregard this understanding, every one does to some degree, but we all are born with a basic sense of right and wrong. This is not deduced rationally but innately discerned. The rest of morality is disclosed by divine revelation - scripture. The evidence can be found on the shelf of just about any bookstore. Apart from God there can be no objective morality or ethical normative - only personal preference and social convention. There can be no ontological meaning for a finite being without an infinite reference point. Without God the righteous becomes merely the self-righteous; whatever makes any given individual feel good about themselves.

[YoungBlackRepublican]

“Seems being foolish is on the rise.”

So people who choose not to believe in something without proof are the ones who are foolish huh? Seems like your logic is a little backwards no? In my opinion a thousand years from now people will look back at this time and wonder what were we thinking. Kinda the way we look at the ancients and wonder how they thought the earth was flat. Seriously....future generations are gonna wonder how we ever discovered flight. They will think “they actually thought a virgin gave birth?——they actually thought a single man collected 2 of each animal-—they actually believed an invisible man in the sky actually cared about how many times they masturbated?
I don’t know if there is a God or not...I just want some proof if there is.