Nothing to hold back evil in atheists

[FinalEnigma]

another poster said the following.

Atheism 'prepared the ground' (as you claim Christianity did for Hitler) for the above crimes(stalin reference). There is nothing to hold back such evil if you don't believe in God, moral standards, eternal rewards and punishment, and that man has no more intrinsic value than a dog. This is why even a horrible person like Torquemada was restrained in his harm, and why it took atheists to implement truly epic, large scale mass muder. BTW, I don't think you in any way have to answer for these atheist murders or are responsible for them.

Blue parenthetical mine.


Question for debate.

if you are an atheist, wold you commit Mass genocide and kill millions? Why or why not? is there anything to 'hold you back'? if so, what?



if you are not an atheist, do you believe that there is nothing holding atheists back from committing genocide?


for both - are there any non-god-referencing philosophies that would call genocide wrong?

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

if you are an atheist, wold you commit Mass genocide and kill millions?

I'm an atheist and I see no need for genocide as it is commonly understood. The killing of millions would depend on the possible immediate need to do so, and not on whether these millions adhered to my atheistic ideal.

is there anything to 'hold you back'? if so, what?

Compassion for my fellow human beings.

This whole line of thought - atheists as amoral or immoral - is nothing more than the demonizing of dissenters found so often in Christian ideology. It is a slander against all compassionate humans regardless of their take on whose God has the bigger *.

Show me some means to verify a god has handed down the right to claim moral superiority to any one group and then I may accept such. Until then this deal with insulting and demonizing dissenters has got to stop.

[cnorman18]

another poster said the following.

Atheism 'prepared the ground' (as you claim Christianity did for Hitler) for the above crimes(stalin reference). There is nothing to hold back such evil if you don't believe in God, moral standards, eternal rewards and punishment, and that man has no more intrinsic value than a dog. This is why even a horrible person like Torquemada was restrained in his harm, and why it took atheists to implement truly epic, large scale mass muder. BTW, I don't think you in any way have to answer for these atheist murders or are responsible for them.

Blue parenthetical mine.


Question for debate.

if you are an atheist, wold you commit Mass genocide and kill millions? Why or why not? is there anything to 'hold you back'? if so, what?

N/A

if you are not an atheist, do you believe that there is nothing holding atheists back from committing genocide?

No. That's ridiculous. Religiion is no more the only source for morals than chickens are the only source for eggs. They may be the most common eggs, but duck eggs are tasty too. No chickens required.

for both - are there any non-god-referencing philosophies that would call genocide wrong?

I would say, all of them.

The only philosophies, historically, that I am aware of that have ever endorsed or attempted deliberate genocide have been "God-referencing." That would include Naziism, which at least publicly claimed to be consistent with and supportive of Christianity.

[d.thomas]

There would have to be something in it for me to kill millions. What's the offer?

[Nec Spe Nec Metu]

another poster said the following.

Atheism 'prepared the ground' (as you claim Christianity did for Hitler) for the above crimes(stalin reference). There is nothing to hold back such evil if you don't believe in God, moral standards, eternal rewards and punishment, and that man has no more intrinsic value than a dog. This is why even a horrible person like Torquemada was restrained in his harm, and why it took atheists to implement truly epic, large scale mass muder. BTW, I don't think you in any way have to answer for these atheist murders or are responsible for them.

Blue parenthetical mine.


Question for debate.

if you are an atheist, wold you commit Mass genocide and kill millions? Why or why not? is there anything to 'hold you back'? if so, what?



if you are not an atheist, do you believe that there is nothing holding atheists back from committing genocide?


for both - are there any non-god-referencing philosophies that would call genocide wrong?

I would not commit genocide because senseless violence is simply that; senseless. As an atheist, I believe that the mentality of the dictator, who is among the only people to be in a position to commit genocide, is counter-productive to human society as it creates unnecessary suffering on the part of the masses for the sake of the gain of a few.

I don't go on a killing spree in a vain revulsion against the realization that there is no god because I recognize that the world I live in is populated with people who share roughly the same conscious perception of pain and suffering that I posses, and to inflict such suffering on another is unacceptable because I empathize with the basic human condition. I would not want harm to be inflicted upon me and thus I do not inflict it upon others. That's the basis of sanity.

[lorene]

if you are not an atheist, do you believe that there is nothing holding atheists back from committing genocide?

Of course nothing is holding them back....except lack of power and fear to commit.

[Tiberius47]

another poster said the following.

Atheism 'prepared the ground' (as you claim Christianity did for Hitler) for the above crimes(stalin reference). There is nothing to hold back such evil if you don't believe in God, moral standards, eternal rewards and punishment, and that man has no more intrinsic value than a dog. This is why even a horrible person like Torquemada was restrained in his harm, and why it took atheists to implement truly epic, large scale mass muder. BTW, I don't think you in any way have to answer for these atheist murders or are responsible for them.

Blue parenthetical mine.


Question for debate.

if you are an atheist, wold you commit Mass genocide and kill millions? Why or why not? is there anything to 'hold you back'? if so, what?



if you are not an atheist, do you believe that there is nothing holding atheists back from committing genocide?


for both - are there any non-god-referencing philosophies that would call genocide wrong?

If a believer does good only because they fear punishment from a god, what does that say about the believer?

Do good for the sake of doing good, not because you are scared of a god.

[Furrowed Brow]

[Of course nothing is holding them back....except lack of power and fear to commit.

So that would be the same two reasons that hold back a theist then. The theist fears other people and their god, whilst an atheists fears other people......

[lorene]

[Of course nothing is holding them back....except lack of power and fear to commit.

So that would be the same two reasons that hold back a theist then. The theist fears other people and their god, whilst an atheists fears other people......

Can you show us an example of religious people who feared to commit genocide because of the god of the others they were going to kill?...If a theist is afraid of another persons god, then they truly do not believe in their own very much.

[lorene]

If a believer does good only because they fear punishment from a god, what does that say about the believer?

Do good for the sake of doing good, not because you are scared of a god.

This is the best thing to discuss I have seen in a while. I will first answer your question, then ask one...

What it says depends on the religion of the person and why they fear(IMO)....now...

For the sake of discussion, tell me, do you think it is better to do good out of fear than to do no good at all?