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Originally Posted by MrVisitor
But what if society (for instance Nazi Germany or Communist Russia) decide that persecuting certain minorities was ok? Who do we look to then for moral guidance?
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Pretty funny that you mention Nazi Germany. Nazi was a mostly christian group with a few pagan rituals tossed in at the last minute. Who did they look for to moral guidance ? Why many of the nazis thought that since the pope did nothing, and said nothing, then it was ok to ...ahem...send the jews to madagascar....
And you can avoid the Irish civil war examples all you want, but all sides in Ireland use "moral" highground all the time. Which religion is "right and moral" ?
Religion doesn't stop unjust wars. (Crusades up to Iraq) Nor does it strengthen moral codes. It helps sometimes, but religion cannot be relied upon when its followers are wishy washy and covered with infighting.
Lastly, you have avoided use of the term ethics. I posit that the same amount of athiests have functioning ethics as religious people have functioning morals. Ethics and morals are 99% synonyms except for the God part that is included in my definition of morals.
Jonathan, the good agnostic.