Advocatus Atheist

--> I have a dear friend who is stuck in the quagmire of unreason and blinkered thinking we call America's Bible Belt, and due to forces outside of her control, has been forced to become one of the numerous closet skeptics afraid to voice her doubt for fear of negative peer pressure, of being ostracized by family and friends, and receiving undue scorn should she speak her peace of mind. Forced into silence by "Christian love." Ironic, don't you think? Regrettably, she would have to endure all sorts of ill will in her overly zealous community at the hands of insular minded and intolerant religious partisans if she should confess her "honest to God" thoughts and opinions or mention, in any way, her atheism. She still sings in the church choir, because she loves music and singing, but if she mentioned her real thoughts and feelings she's be kicked out and bullied. It's not fair -- but that's the power of group-think -- where everyone sees ...

If I were to define what “good” is, and give a working definition for what good and evil mean in the natural world—I must agree with the Buddha's theory—namely that good and evil are natural conditions, or simply put, they are extensions of pain and suffering. That which alleviates our pain is most good. That which compounds our suffering is bad. According to Confucius, “The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.” Morality deals with good and evil, which as far as I can tell can be defined purely in naturalistic terms. There is no need to alter the implications of such by including additional suppositions, such as including supernatural premises of “original sin,” or as the early Church fathers used to say “man sinned in...