GP You say 'There are no absolute, objective moral standards in a godless universe' but there are no absolute moral standards in the universe of the Abrahamic religions either.

Take the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'. In the very early Christian era this was adhered to faithfully, but once Christianity became the faith of government, it had to be modified so wars could be fought. No point being the Christian ruler of the Roman Empire if you couldn't defend your patch, and the corruption of the absolute moral standard began. So the concept of 'just wars' evolved, and we now have the bizarre practice of military chaplains blessing armed forces as they set out to kill.

Of course Christians, Jews and Muslims have killed and awful lot of people over the centuries, and do not seem to regard this as incompatible with their faith. The few who are committed pacifists, such as the Quakers, are a tiny minority and all sorts of killing are now condoned by apparently faithful people - in war (pretty well everywhere), by execution (in the USA),for revenge (Middle East), and by disease (Africa, due to the ban on condoms driven by the Catholic church).

And I don't see how a moral standard attributed to a deity of which there is no evidence could ever be described as 'objective'.

DEAR CARL.....

Quote:

"You must be joking."
Unquote

Version No. 001
Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001
Act No. 47/2001
Version as at 1 January 2002
TABLE OF PROVISIONS

PART 2—UNLAWFUL CONDUCT 6
Division 1—Unlawful Vilification 6
7. Racial vilification unlawful 6
8. Religious vilification unlawful 6
9. Motive and dominant ground irrelevant

8. Religious vilification unlawful
(1) A person must not, on the ground of the religious
belief or activity of another person or class of
persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred
against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or
severe ridicule of, that other person or class of
persons.
Note: "engage in conduct" includes use of the internet or
e-mail to publish or transmit statements or other
material.

NOTE CAREFULLY THE WORDS
-hold up to serious contempt
-severe ridicule"
-incite hatred against.

That rather says where your article belongs....right?

-You mentioned 'Christians'
-You ridiculed
-You said: "that immoral behaviour, say pedophilia, conducted by adherents is OK because they're “of the chosen”;

which is true for Islam but not for Christianity... thus this is inciting hatred against Christians and thus cannot be seen to be 'in good faith or in the public interest as it is a falsehood.

While it almost causes me a coronary to say this..

Both John Passy and Pericles show considerably enlightened approaches!

At least they saw the article for what it was.

A good start boys :) *I see hope*

Of course religion is fantastical nonsense. But why stop there?
All right brained thought processes are an impediment to logic and science, distracting us from the literal, material, immediate reality of our existence as producing/consuming meat machines.

I'm so glad my parents didn't read me fairytales or celebrate Christmas.
Thankfully my childhood was devoid of stupid cartoons, witches, dragons, unicorns and other such nonsense.

I feel so sorry for other children who wasted their lives playing pirates and cowboys, when they could have been memorising the periodic table of elements.

We should not only outlaw religion, but all art, philosophy and mythology.

Due to our scientific advances, it is now possible to perform brain surgeries very precisely.
As all religious and other fantastical nonsense is the product of our right brain, we should perform compulsory right-brain lobotomies on all new born babies.

When the right brained generations have died out, only pure left-brained people will be left, producing a peaceful, productive and absolutely logical society.

The RIGHT brain inherits the earth
[ie,the meak ,right brain,dreamers

The typical left brain error
thinking they are the only ones who get it RIGHT.

The left_brain controles the right_hand side of the body!

The left brain sheeple [yes_man] who university and the dumbing down de-education SUStem produces into left brain thinking party machine men,

ie the black suited clones
that play on the deck of the titanic while the ship is sinking because they live by faith and their own im-mortal thinking.

The type that believes we have a democracy,
and cant see we have a two_party demonic_autocracy ,

who thinks there is a difference between the two-parties,

who believe science or the party machine men
who knows_it_all
despite science never finding a cure for cancer ,
and both_parties playing the_same numbers-game.

The same adgenda [regardless_of_party]
keating sold us out as much as howard [as much as rudd now is]
BUT RUDD 's cure has no set price!
the market sets the_price of this 83 trillion dollar NEW_global_tax ,

built on a lie [we are asked to decide now!
[yet dont get the numbers till near years end,
guess and make judgment on a sealed box?[gift or curse?]

The MARKET will set the price!

[LETthe TAX payers pay WHATEVER price THE MARKET SETStoday

[typical left brain thinking
thus they cant see the ILL-logic of it

SCIENCE has not been able to create its_own_cell!

[Nor createA cell_membrane
[NOR EVOLVING it into anything else!
yet it KNOWS all?

with its flawed evolutional-THEORY,

its global warming THEORY[as caused by man]made carbon ]THEORY

The earth is heating up!
[but not from the carbondioxideOR hydrofluroCARBONS[or its the sun luke [and man-made cloudless skies from the over the horison''radar''called haarp[google HAARP]

scientists ARE divided

trees being murderd
that affects the co2 conversion into oxegen?
indeed global warn=ming

BUt left-brain pay as_you_earn,clones that serve the media[and the laws[fed_and_state govt]passed a few years ago ]allows GOVT to lie to us
[TOswallow camels while logiclly straining GNATS]

WHO claim to 'believe' in god
yet cant hear his LIVING quiet still voice
[of conscience] inside them

GP, "in a very real way atheists can never be hypocrites."
Wrong again, athiests, agnostics etc can be hypocrites in the same way that thiests can be hypocrites - by proclaiming one set of values, demanding others live by them and doing something else themselves. Hypocracy is about the difference between our public stance on an issue and our personal actions on the issue.

There are plenty of examples of non religious hypocracy - I'll list a few which reflect my personal bias's (others may see these as justified choices)
- those who insist on higher taxes and better social welfare systems but do whatever they can to minimise their own contributions to the tax system
- the environmental campaigners who fly around the world in private jets to tell others to carpool
- those who insist on freedom of speech for people who think like themselves but want those who think differently to be silenced

When you have a single thiest position agreed to by all thiests about what is right and wrong you may have a case for some of your views but until that occurs you don't have absolutes, you have make it up as you go values and morality. Actually I'll make it easier, get your god to convince all the adherants to your faith to come to agreement about what your gods commands are and how those commands should be applied and I'll take your claims seriously.

R0bert