Quote:
Originally Posted by weateallthepies
If the theists were content to simply believe that might work but many seek to affect society as a whole based on those beliefs. If I became a passive atheist overnight, there would still be unelected bishops sitting in my democratic government, religious groups would still seek to and succeed in opposing scientific research, political leaders would still justify their actions by invoking god. I'm not sure how it would help to simply ignore all these things.
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The reason why religious groups sometimes get in the way of scientific research, is that they perceive scientists do no think of of the moral consequences of their actions. Many scientists are atheist and so postulate that because they have a high level of education in one area this entitles them to pursue a potentially damaging from of knowledge as there is no reason why not to (or the 'pursuit of knowledge'). Sometimes they even convince themselves that a certain plainly evil device is actually good for the world, as the famous case concerning the thermonuclear bomb. They're looking for these false moralities in order to justify their research and enable them to continue in their path. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. Many people posted about how they don't need religion to live ethically. That may be true but its dangerous. Its all about perspective. Point of view. Whom do you place as the center of your universe. People don't intentionally subvert normal moral rules, or course not. Even many atheists are living normal ethical lives, sure. Where it gets tricky is in cases where a person defines an activity as part of 'who they are' or has a very strong desire to do something but needs some belief system to back it up. This is when a person may choose to modify a moral rule for personal gain. Theres mild examples of this and extreme. Politicians telling a white lie to protect their reputations to Jeffrey Dahmer praying at an idol made of his victims skulls so he could continue exploring the evil he was obsessed with.