Atheism and morality vs. Christianity and morality

[Confused]

I have often heard that atheists are amoral and that Christianity offers the way to morality. This thread is quite simple then I guess.

1) Is there any evidence to link atheism and amorality? What?
2) Is there any evidence to link atheism and morality? What?
3) Is there any evidence to link Christianity and amorality? What?
4) Is there any evidence to link Christianity and morality? What?

[JohnPaul]

I am sure the 70 to 100 thousand women tortured and burned as witches by Christians in Europe would have appreciated that explanation of Christian love before they died.
John

Do you have any support for this claim? I have spent the last hour on the Internet and have found all manner of claims. Which one did you use and why?

Take your choice. The figure of 100 thousand I read in a slick magazine about 60 years ago, and claimed the figure was derived from still existing records of individual churches in Europe. Remember, the good Christians back then were proud of the "God's work" they were doing and kept careful records which are available to historians today. If you don't like the figure, use any of those you have found. I admit none of those occurred in the past generation, but some recently reported in Africa did.

John

[JohnPaul]

I am sure the 70 to 100 thousand women tortured and burned as witches by Christians in Europe would have appreciated that explanation of Christian love before they died.
John

Do you have any support for this claim? I have spent the last hour on the Internet and have found all manner of claims. Which one did you use and why?

Beside the point, but my last wife had been a Wiccan Witch in her younger days before I married her, and she and I were married by a Wiccan priestess. The government in Washington state recognizes Wicca as a legitimate religion and recognizes the authority of their priestesses to perform marriages, even if you may not.

John

John

[cholland]

Just because Christianity allows for that (Or makes the claim, not allow), does not mean it is true. The immaterial concepts appear in the secular world because of the development of the brain and imagination. That does not mean the concept has actual physical existence.

However, when it comes to love, .. which definition do you have for love? The bond between people is biochemical reactions.

How does the development of a physical material thing make immaterial concepts exist?

[Goat]

I am sure the 70 to 100 thousand women tortured and burned as witches by Christians in Europe would have appreciated that explanation of Christian love before they died.
John

Do you have any support for this claim? I have spent the last hour on the Internet and have found all manner of claims. Which one did you use and why?

Take your choice. The figure of 100 thousand I read in a slick magazine about 60 years ago, and claimed the figure was derived from still existing records of individual churches in Europe. Remember, the good Christians back then were proud of the "God's work" they were doing and kept careful records which are available to historians today. If you don't like the figure, use any of those you have found. I admit none of those occurred in the past generation, but some recently reported in Africa did.

John

That number is a bit inflated. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_tria ... ern_period

While early trials fall still within the Late Medieval period, the peak of the witch hunt was during the period of the European wars of religion, peaking between about 1580 and 1630. The witch hunts declined in the early 18th century. In Great Britain, their end is marked by the Witchcraft Act of 1735. But sporadic witch-trials continued to be held during the second half of the 18th century, the last known dating to 1782,[2] though a prosecution was commenced in Tennessee as recently as 1833.[3] [4][5]

Over the entire duration of the phenomenon of some three centuries, an estimated total of 40,000 to 60,000 people were executed

[JohnPaul]

I am sure the 70 to 100 thousand women tortured and burned as witches by Christians in Europe would have appreciated that explanation of Christian love before they died.
John

Do you have any support for this claim? I have spent the last hour on the Internet and have found all manner of claims. Which one did you use and why?

Take your choice. The figure of 100 thousand I read in a slick magazine about 60 years ago, and claimed the figure was derived from still existing records of individual churches in Europe. Remember, the good Christians back then were proud of the "God's work" they were doing and kept careful records which are available to historians today. If you don't like the figure, use any of those you have found. I admit none of those occurred in the past generation, but some recently reported in Africa did.

John

That number is a bit inflated. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_tria ... ern_period

While early trials fall still within the Late Medieval period, the peak of the witch hunt was during the period of the European wars of religion, peaking between about 1580 and 1630. The witch hunts declined in the early 18th century. In Great Britain, their end is marked by the Witchcraft Act of 1735. But sporadic witch-trials continued to be held during the second half of the 18th century, the last known dating to 1782,[2] though a prosecution was commenced in Tennessee as recently as 1833.[3] [4][5]

Over the entire duration of the phenomenon of some three centuries, an estimated total of 40,000 to 60,000 people were executed

Thanks, Goat. I believe some more were burned in Mexico during the Spanish Inquisition there, which are probably not included in the European figures. Christians mostly went after Jews in Mexico, which was enough in itself to burn them, although witchcraft might be included in the charges. Women were an easy target, and torture usually resulted in many male relatives executed with them. Most were burned in groups, although I remember reading of one high-class woman who was choked individually by an iron collar. The Spanish Inquisition was also very active in South America, especially Peru, but I don't remember seeing any figures for that.

John

[Jester]

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[Slopeshoulder]

At the risk of getting my head bitten off by my atheist friends, I'd like to try to make a subtle point:
While I reject natural law theology, and FULLY embrace ethics based in empathy available to all people, I will give a shout out, or a win on points, to religion in general - not because they are more moral, rather because they are traditions, gathering places, and languages that have developed a mature framework for developing, navigating, and adjudicating ethics. In my secular and technocratic life, I experience the absence of that.

[David 2.0]

If it works don't fix it.

Thats the boat I'm in.

An atheist that fully subscribes to the morality he learned as a christian.

[Artie]

How does the development of a physical material thing make immaterial concepts exist?

Simply because the physical material brain is capable of imagining immaterial concepts. It's an evolutionary survival trait. That rustle might be a tiger lurking in the bushes. If it is, you're probably dead. If you hear the rustle and can imagine a tiger there you run like hell and will improve your chances of survival.

[Artie]

If it works don't fix it.

Thats the boat I'm in.

An atheist that fully subscribes to the morality he learned as a christian.

Morality existed long before Christianity. Christianity or "God's law" is simply human logic, reason and common sense producing moral laws which some people later ascribe to deities.