The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #132816   Message #3010099
Posted By: John P
18-Oct-10 - 05:30 PM
Thread Name: BS: The 'moral' Atheist?
Subject: RE: BS: The 'moral' Atheist?
Dawkins main argument is that there is NO logical path from atheism to atrocity.

Well, there isn't any logical path there. The two aren't really related in any way, and even the most cursory look at the question tells us that lots of people, religious or not, are capable of atrocity. Are you sure Dawkins wasn't saying that there isn't AUTOMATICALLY a connection? That would make some kind of sense if used in response to the common Christian belief that the only way to have any moral sense is through belief in god. Otherwise, trying to draw any connection between disbelief (or belief) in god and the willingness to commit atrocity is both offensive and ignorant. Or perhaps he was saying that religious belief lends itself more readily to the kind of thinking that causes people to commit atrocity? I don't think that's a logical conclusion either, but there's probably more evidence for that than for the other.

I'm not really very concerned about what Dawkins thinks anyway, since he's not part of this discussion. What do YOU think?