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Not sure why you think that if a rule is written, it's good.
And no, rules don't come from religion. They come from human nature. All animals are born with rules about the proper ways to behave toward other beings. Humans are unique in complicating things waaaay beyond the basics, but it is simply not the case that there were no social rules before humans invented full-blown religion.
As for the founders, they mention being motivated by "...a decent respect for the opinions of mankind..." which opinion at the time was overwhelmingly theistic. So even their public writings probably don't convey the extent to which they (dis)believed. Except of course for Paine. Jefferson was much concerned with religion, but he could not be fairly described as christian. And Washington never said much one way or the other, but he was clearly not a god-botherer.
But you know all this.
I'm sure you're right.
The problem with religion depends on which religion and which adherents you're talking about. If the religion requires you to turn your brain off - as does fundamentalism of any stripe - then I've got BIG problems with it. Otherwise, I don't have problems with it, other than to insist that no religion should have the government as its enforcement arm.
It sounds like a lot of this is just an argument over semantics.
I heard that someone went on a shooting spree in the name of atheism. Let me know when you invalidate atheism, okay?
As you are the one that claimed preventing shooting sprees validated religion none of us have to use a shooting spree in the name of atheism as invalidating atheism. We were just pointing out how silly your claim was.
By the way when was this shooting spree and where?
I heard that someone went on a shooting spree in the name of atheism. Let me know when you invalidate atheism, okay?
No, you don't understand the situation, do you? I have made no such advocacy such as the above, have I? I have not argued that any individual actions validate or invalidate religion or atheism, I certainly do not believe that they do.
You on the other hand advanced an affirmative argument which claimed that religion is validated when it stops someone from performing an evil deed, did you not? If you do believe this, then you are wedded to what flows logically from that position, are you not?
One of those streams is what I stated. If religion's validity is established when it prevents evil, then it follows that it is invalidated when it causes evil.
I understand why you would duck answering with the nonsense you wrote, trying to assign your own absurd logic to me.
It seems to me that 1 percent of the evil done in the name of religion does not discount the 99 percent of good that it does. But you never hear about the good things, right? How often are good things reported? Never. You know that, don't you? Atheists only focus on the negative aspects of religion, as if there are no positives which greatly outweigh them.
All of this grandstanding for atheism won't get anyone anywhere.
Religion causes people to unite together in community. It causes them to search their minds for the perfect and optimum solutions to problems, and to focus on the betterment of society. No one should find fault with that.
It seems to me that 1 percent of the evil done in the name of religion does not discount the 99 percent of good that it does. But you never hear about the good things, right? How often are good things reported? Never. You know that, don't you? Atheists only focus on the negative aspects of religion, as if there are no positives which greatly outweigh them.
All of this grandstanding for atheism won't get anyone anywhere.
Where are theses numbers coming from? Who claims that 1% if evil comes from religion ?
Good things are often reported, all the campaigns to help the needy. T9 claim 8t is never reported is nonsense. In addition of coruse every day occurrences are rarely reported. Did you read about the atheist parents who took their sick baby to the hospital? Of course you didn't however if a religious person refuses to seek medical care for their sick baby and it dies needlessly that is news. And not just for atheists but for moat religious folks as well.
Everytime someone disputes your unsupported claim about the good that religion does you rather than supporting it and backing it up, you just provide another unsupported claim. And why should we atheists have to silently accept the harms religions do because there might also be some good. You have claimed that religion is 99% good, our laws all come from religion and so forth.
How about you accepting that religions because most of them teach we are right and they are evil has been involved in terrible atrocities as well as many holy wars and the Crusades? The evils of the anti Semetic religious in Europe lasted for over a thousand years, resulted in Hitler being able to do what he did, and still has its backers. Should we ignore that because the church took some time off from burning witches and fed some of the poor?
Religion causes people to unite together in community. It causes them to search their minds for the perfect and optimum solutions to problems, and to focus on the betterment of society. No one should find fault with that.
To bad that is not the truth. I'd you believe that I can see why you argue what you do but history and observation does not agree with you.
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