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== Atheist morality ==

== Atheist morality ==

Viewed as a simple philosophical framework of "no god exists", atheism can provide no logical basis for any moral standard. Some atheists reject normal social conventions and live their lives according to the rule that "anything goes". Many feel this has led to a large rise in crime[http://www.creationtheory.org/Morality/CrimeAndDivorce.shtml], drug use, pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancy,[http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/wb/xp-98766] pedophilia[http://www-gatago.com/alt/atheism/42639959.html] and bestiality.

 

Atheist morality is based upon emotion, experience and empirically derived ethics, such as those promoted by secular humanism. Atheists hold that the Bible cannot be our source of morality as it contains countless calls for immoral behavior such as killing any who try to convert you, stoning homosexuals and adulterers to death, and the institution of slavery. Instead, most Christians actually rely on their own innate philanthropic sense (which has evolved as a necessary element of communal living over millions of years) to cherry pick the pleasant parts of the Bible and ignore the rest.

 

Atheists often subscribe to the secular humanist idea that it is far more ethical to do what is right simply because you feel that it's right, rather than because you fear divine punishment. Such ethical behavior facilitates civilized living and improves the quality of life for everyone.  

 

The common argument that Naziism and Stalinism were atheistic in nature and that their violence stemmed from that nature ignores more recent examples of what they actually were; Personality cults. Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, and more recently despots like Kim Jong Il were or are at the center of governments which enforce reverence unto them as though they were deities. Nazi Germany was in fact heavily Christian, as evidenced by Hitler's own words, as shown here:http://nobeliefs.com/speeches.htm and photographic evidence of his ties with the church can he found here: http://nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm  It is certainly plausible that Hitler was nonreligious and feignin religious belief in order to gain power, but even if Hitler himself was not religious, Nazis on the whole most certainly were.

 

As for allegations that atheism contributes to crime, here are studies showing that in fact the opposite is true: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article571206.ece

 

Finally, evidence of the inverse correlation between religiosity and intelligence: http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/religiosity-and-intelligence/

==References==

==References==

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