Posted on 05/27/2007 9:43:00 AM PDT by wagglebee
Heh. Your own link buttresses my contention.
“- No church nor clergy; no teaching on the worship of God or gods, or life after death.”
http://www.religion-cults.com/Eastern/Confucianism/confuci.htm
“From the perspective of the creator, if he brought something into existence he can remove it from existence just as easily.”
Kind of raises a question about abortion, doesn’t it.
....
Actually, I was kind of thinking about the classic scene where the father tells the unruly kid “I brought you into to this world, and I can take you out of it just as easily”.
You have a point. In may ways his teachings did parallel those of Jesus. :-)
As far as life after death goes, however, Confucius did appear to believe in it.
All you can offer to define it is an estoric hobgoblin.
Morality and all of its associated ideals are rooted entirely in the presupposition some higher power defines what is correct for human behavior.
I would suggest that you actually read the Bible so you can effective argue you points.
Of course, far better man have attempted to do such a thing and have been converted by the Logos out of their arrogance and pride
bookmark
Hooey.
In a discussion about unicorns and the Bible:
Tom, a student raises his hand and declares that there are no unicorns.
Teacher: Tom, do you know everything there is to know in the universe?
Tom: Well....err NO.
Teacher: Well Tom do you know half of everything there is to know?
Tom: NO
Teacher: Tom, let’s say for arguments sake that you do know half of everything there is to know. Do you think that unicorns may exist in the half you don’t know?
End of discussion. (fish hawk, how much do you know?)
How do they know they live by a 'high moral code'? Is this a code they made up themselves? If so, how do they determine it is higher than, say, the moral code that John Wayne Gacy lived by?
Evidently more than you. Can’t you come up with your own example? My example is better anyway as you can look around all over the earth and find NO unicorns, yet, the signature of God is just about everywhere.
“Morality and all of its associated ideals are rooted entirely in the presupposition some higher power defines what is correct for human behavior.”
I agree with your point, but the reality is that the heart of atheism is the elevation of one’s self to that higher power that defines what is correct for human behavior. In that way the presupposition of the higher power is honored in atheistic arguments.
Everyone worships God. Those that claim otherwise have only posited themselves as God.
Excellent article.
How do you know? And where do you go to find out?
And what if you're wrong?
For Atheists, there are no rules, except perhaps that man is supreme.
That’s the whole point - there is no God.
So, any moral code you choose to live by, you do so either out of cowardice or convenience. Cowardice, in that you either don’t have the courage to simply take what’s yours in the Darwinian sense, and let the weaker to their own fate. Convenience in that, since you choose to live in civilization, and you recognize that man is supreme, then government is the highest expression of that power.
The individual atheist is outnumbered and outgunned, or dependent upon others for their sustenance.
If you lived out in the sticks, you could pretty much set your self up, live off the land, and die that way.
Chesterton had a point. I wasn’t aware of that poem until I read this thread, but it sure makes the observation eloquently.
My observation is that most atheist seem to be stubborn agnostics. They haven’t enough evidence God doesn’t exist, but they have enough faith in their position that they proclaim themselves atheist.
Most aren’t sure enough to realize that they can shed the whole Judeo-Christian ethic, flinching if you will at the opportunity to actually practice what they are preaching.
In the end, you arrive in the same place - Atheism is every bit the belief system any other religion is. It actually requires more faith, and in the end few actually live its tenents.
“Morality and all of its associated ideals are rooted entirely in the presupposition some higher power defines what is correct for human behavior.”
I agree with your point, but the reality is that the heart of atheism is the elevation of one’s self to that higher power that defines what is correct for human behavior. In that way the presupposition of the higher power is honored in atheistic arguments.
EXACTLY. Most of them just want to play "God."
Plato’s Euthyphro is a great illustration...
Socrates advances the argument to Euthyphro that, piety to the gods, who all want conflicting devotions and/or actions from humans, is impossible. (Socrates exposed the pagan esoteric sophistry.)
Morality is impossible, because all humans have different morals... Claims of morality is sophistry without some singular higher power defining what it is.
Likewise, morals are such a construction of idols used by the Left as a rationale for them to demand compliance to their wishes in politics, which most often are a skewed mess of fallacies in logic. Morals are a deceptive replacement for the avoidance of sin.
Today, "morals" are defined by a quasi-religious pagan philosophy based on esoteric hobgoblins. A greater number of "atheists" and "pagans" adopt the same hackneyed tenets of a faux Judaic-Christian ideal (golden calf). They also subscribe to the Judaic fetishism of "sin," but will fight to their death in denial of it. Most of them are so wrapped up in their own polemics that they have become nothing more than pathetic anti-Christians with the same false hypocritical philosophy. They just slap a new label on it hoping nobody will notice - - they replace the idea of "avoiding sin" with "morals."
Thanks for the ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.