Posted by David Stephens on June 23, 1998 at 14:40:54:
In Reply to: you're such a poet posted by Tammy on June 23, 1998 at 13:50:14:
: I didn't say atheists don't want to be ethical. Just that y'all don't like the idea of a Rule Maker/Enforcer. I also wonder how an atheist can define ethical behavior.
It's not the idea of a rule maker that skeptics have a problem with, it's belief in things that have no evidence. As for the ethics argument, I really don't want to get into that again (the last time I tried, it obviously had no effect since you're still confused about it). Each type of creature on earth generates it's own "ethics" for survival. Humans created human ethics. Our invented gods reflect our ethics. Theists hardly have a monopoly on ethical behavior--personally I feel the ethics of humanism are highly superior anyway.
: So why don't you turn your skeptical eye on macroevolution & tell me if we really KNOW that all life on planet earth really evolved from some little RNA microbe. Or perhaps this speculation is more theoretically pleasing than an admission that scientists don't know exactly how life began. Heaven forbid that some scientist believe that a supernatural force created the universe!
I'll let the more knowledgeable people on here try to help you with that one, though I think it won't make a difference. Theists have their Truth, so they will discount anything that might oppose their Truth. Science is openminded and keeps looking for answers. Even if science is wrong, it works to self correct and find truth.
Besides, even if I could discount evolution, a lack of understanding of our origins is not evidence for god. Just because we're ignorant doesn't mean a bible-god must exist.