There are apparent reasons given in Genesis 2 by the Hebrew Fathers of the purpose for humans.
1. Manage and care for the Earth, and everything living.
2. Produce food from gardening.
3. Procreate children in your image - educate them.
4. Identify all things as suitable with relationship to humans.
5. Sanction the relationship of man and woman - husband and wife.

Atheists will ignore these principles as irrelevant, but they have served a healthy society for thousands of years

Dear Paul,

Many slaves were not born into slavery but were forced into slavery. They knew what freedom was. Those who were born into slavery had language and culture. Their parents could tell them of their history. Slaves were not mindless automatons. They often preserved memories of their religions, and not the slave master’s religion. Where they took on the slave master’s religion they emphasized those parts of it such as the exodus they found relevant. It buttressed the apologists for slavery to promulgate the myth of the contented and happy slaves.

Slaveholders were afraid of slave revolts and with good reason. There have been slave revolts throughout history even the slaves suffered horrible penalties for their revolts.

Google ‘slave revolts’, and you will read of the many slave revolts in history.

There was an article in the Washington Post on the reaction of slaves to getting their freedom. They knew what it meant.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/emancipation-evoked-mix-of-emotions-for-freed-slaves/2012/09/07/57ad5184-f15a-11e1-892d-bc92fee603a7_story.html

“Interviews with historians hired during the Depression to record the experiences of former slaves show the gamut of emotions they felt. “After surrender, I can remember the negroes were so happy,” recalled Hamp Santee, who had been enslaved in Mississippi. “They just rang bells, blowed horns and shouted like they were crazy. Then they brought a brand new rope, and cut it up into little pieces and they gave everyone a little piece. And whenever they look at the rope they should remember that they were free from bondage.” To Lafayette Price of Morgan County, Ala., the jubilation of emancipation meant that “I’m free as a frog because a frog had freedom to jump when [and where] he please.” Yet many newly freed realized that this was a time of great uncertainty and danger. To W.L. Bost, freedom meant being “just like a turtle,” cautiously peeking out of the shell to “understand the lay of the land.””

Dear Josephus,

We atheists live in society. Don’t you think we care for each other and for other living things? I am a happily married man with three children and nine grandchildren. I love my wife and my descendants. I don’t need the Bible to tell me that. People of non-biblical religions don’t need the Bible to tell them that. People lived in families before the Bible was written.

I question some of the 5 things you mention. Some atheists care very much for the earth, are aware of the damage done by humans to the earth and find that people can find in the Bible pretty much what they want to find.

All things are not suitable for humans. One way to preserve endangered species is to reserve habitat for them. The Bible states:

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The above verse of the Bible encourages damage to the earth. It encourages human to breed without considering the capacity of the earth to support humanity. It discourages a rational population policy. It is wrong in my estimation for humans to act as though they rule the earth and have dominion over all other species.

All humans including some Christians are not heterosexual. They should be able to have their unions recognized in law. The Bible would see them condemned to death. Do you believe homosexuals should be condemned to death?

The Bible would have people condemned to death for violating the Sabbath. What is the Sabbath? Religious Jews observe it from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Most Christians observe it on Sunday. Would you have religious Jews killed because they don’t observe the Sabbath you observe?

The fact is that we can’t live by the Bible. One part of it contradicts another part of it. The Bible is not a fit guide for our society.

<<I feel we mostly just restate our opinions and don’t examine ourselves and our motives.>>

David, I would suggest you take that principle and apply it to yourself. Based on your writings so far, I doubt though that is going to happen.

As a person who aims as much as possible to be on a plant based diet, I find the consumption of meat in principle vile in the context a living creature is put to death when it doesn't need to be. We have so many plants to eat.

In no way though will I lecture others over the issue. Such a move to a vegetarian/plant based diet is something to be taken on by one as a realisation that it is the right way forward, which of course it is.

There are other factors to consider though other than what I may want alone. This includes a basic principle of freedom of choice, realising others have differing lives, principles and values and when it comes to food consumption respecting people who eat meat, although I have no time anymore for such an outdated practice.

It took time to realise such old, out of date consumption practices were not fine. I suspect people like yourself (assuming you eat meat, and I'll say you do as most in Australia do) will continue to be the same, restating opinions in that area, with no examination of anything, including motives.

For me it is not worth trying to change minds on a plastic forum like this one. I can and do put my energy towards things that are real and dynamic and change lives whatever spectrum they come through - and for some this includes God, religion or something else.

David f,
The English word dominion you take it as meaning abuse. No such connotation is associated with the meaning of the word. It means it is part of the kingdom in which you are King. A wise King does not abuse things in his kingdom but cares for them.

NathanJ,
Man was originally given to eating fruit and leaves, before the fall following that he was given permission to eat seeds, following the flood he was to eat clean animals, the NT gives sanction to eat all foods suitable for human consumption, because they were going to Gentile nations.

Allow me to step back a few days into the discussion about free will.

I think we can all agree that we EXPERIENCE having free will.

We also commonly EXPERIENCE that when thoughts run in our minds, it is us who think, when words come out of our mouths it is us who speak and when actions are done by our bodies it is us who act.

When our words and the bodily actions seem to produce consequences, we commonly EXPERIENCE the consequences of these actions to be the consequences of our actions.

Combining the above, whether or not we actually have free will (or even any will at all), our EXPERIENCE is that we have at present at least some control over our future experiences, that we have at least some capacity through choice to increase future pleasant experiences and to reduce future painful experiences - and should we fail to apply this capacity correctly, we would experience regret.

While I believe that there is no human will in existence and that the will I experience is in fact the will of God, nevertheless, to the extent I still have this lingering itching FEELING that my choices and actions are my own and free, to that extent it is also my duty to make these choices and try to make them the best ones.