Horrible, of course. One's heart can only go out to the poor souls at the Unitarian church in Tennessee, who appear to have been assaulted because of their (liberal) beliefs by a nasty piece of work called Jim Adkisson. No doubt we'll have people saying, "See! See! Conservatism leads to murder!" I don't know any conservative religious believers who would sanction the evil that Jim Adkisson did. All of us pray, or should pray, for those folks. Conscience and consistency bids me to say that we should pray for the miserable Adkisson, though I confess I find that hard to do just now.
I have to say that I hesitated to put this post up, because I don't know what to say about this situation beyond, "It's terrible." It's always terrible when people, religious or not, political or not, rich, poor, whatever, act like this. I am reminded of the people who defended P.Z. Myers, saying, "Well you have to remember that he was responding to the harrassment of a guy in Florida by Catholics, and he's had many death threats." So what? As if that justifies gross offense and contempt of Catholics (and Muslims). People who make death threats against P.Z. Myers and anybody else are wicked and foolish, and certainly no friend of Christ or His cause. To say this loon in Tennessee is representative of conservatism or conservative Christianity is baseless and cheap.
The Unitarian church shooter is a wicked man. I pray that he repents of what he's done, and I pray that God comforts the people whose lives he's destroyed. End of story. What more is there to say?
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"If it doesn't come from the Bible, where does it come from?" sig
TR: I basically agree with Rob G's statement.
Also this might be heretical of me, but I really don't like putting the Bible in a million little parts and then judging each of them. When it comes to the Old Testament I guess I take what might be termed a "hollistic" view. They lived in a world largely without Heaven or Hell where life was harsh and entire peoples destroyed each other. Their understanding of what God would want/is-asking would therefore be harsh and all judgments would have to be in the here-and-now. As their "journey" continues they develop more nuance and wisdom on the whole then Christ comes to fulfill the matter. As I said though that might be heretical.
I think someone linked to John C. Wright, who is interesting as he was an atheist when I first heard of him. I'm not sure I entirely agree with him, but I do wonder if he has a point about "victimless crimes." If an atheist could do drugs and get away with it, what would be the reason not to? Or if he raped a woman who has a "fifty first dates" type memory problem, so therefore she will not be traumatized by it, what is the reason not to do it?
Thomas R: "If an atheist could do drugs and get away with it, what would be the reason not to? Or if he raped a woman who has a "fifty first dates" type memory problem, so therefore she will not be traumatized by it, what is the reason not to do it?"
Not sure if you're still reading this thread, but I thought I would respond. I think these hypothetical questions fall short because they pose dilemmas that can't happen and then try to explore the morality of these impossible situations.
For example in the rape scenario there are repercussions beyond the victim remembering the event. She could get pregnant or contract a venereal disease. The attacker also makes himself callus to rape and would become likely to do it to someone else.
In the case of drug abuse the addict is likely to become a burden on others. It is hard to see a scenario where this won't be the eventual outcome.
Adkisson was not a Christian, it's pretty clear from the article when he says that the Bible has too many contradictions to be believed, etc.
Those are good answers MH. Most of my problems with atheism aren't about ethics or morals. They're more emotional or spiritual. Atheism seems so lonely and anxiety producing. The dead are gone forever, when you're old and alone you really have no one, if you're a social misfit you can't even pretend to have someone, etc. If you're in a bad place that makes you powerless, like an ICU, well then it sucks to be you because nothing and no one will give you any real strength.
I think atheism is sort of a luxury of rich societies where people feel in control or as part of a state that's in control. Hence "healthier societies" have more atheists somewhat in the same way they tend to have more CEOs or safety inspectors.
"Most of my problems with atheism aren't about ethics or morals. They're more emotional or spiritual."
What you need to look at is the difference between Religion and philosophy. Atheism no or lack of belief in a god/gods etc... vs philosophies, Objectivism,Humanism, Skepiticism, Stoic.For the Atheist religion or lack of is no big deal because it is just a person's way of dealing with life, like psychotherapy. Mythology can be used as a type of psychotherapy for personal transformation but everyones, ethics, morals, etc... comes from the experiences we all share day to day. When you start to look around at the big picture you will see that straw men such as the questions you are posting are not the best way to go about dealing with other people. Remember once you burn a bridge you cannot easily rebuild it. To the "Atheist" you are responisble for everything you do. You cannot erase past mistakes with forgiveness. Once something is done it is done and cannot be erased, so make the best of life and treat others like you would want to be treated.Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself-Confucius The Analects XV.24.
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