A long lived debate regarding ethics, Atheism, and evil has existed for some time.

Atheism guarantees that evil has no greater purpose or meaning; it offers no redemption. This is because in the absolute materialism that atheism implies, evil is very purposeful in that it benefits the perpetrator. The perpetrator commits evil acts, and as long as they get away with it, the victim suffers while the perpetrator enjoys the benefits of their evil deeds.

Atheism makes evil go away by pretending that it does not exist. A natural disaster that kills thousands of people is not evil; it is an act of nature. An animal, whether human or not, that kills another animal is not evil; it is acting according to its own will. We may not like it, we may attempt to stop or prevent it possibly, but in the end Atheism will rationalize it as nature. (the killers daddy yelled at him when he was 16 so its okay that he killed 20 people)

Theism has been blamed of course for plenty of historical evil actions, however i would contend that religion in these cases were used by atheist lead political organizations using the religion in order to manipulate both the masses and compartmentalized inner hierarchy of these so called religious bodies. The inquisition was a perfect example of this. The Roman Catholic church internally rationalized that to retaining power through fear, was more important for the religion rather than actually obeying the core belief of the religion (thou shalt not kill).

Since 1798, the Malthusian argument that man is a virus on the face of the earth and would soon out eat our planets resources, every 20 or 30 years this movement has continued to predict the end of mankind of course in every instance man has overcome obstacles to food and resource shortages, however the movement is just as strong today as it was 200 years ago.

Its current flavor seems to be the green movement, save the planet, global warming, the sky is falling etc. Education and mass media today has been brainwashing many individuals towards this hatred of humanity and the love for polar bears and other vicious predators (which would just as soon eat you alive given the chance) over the love for ones brother human. (Ive recently seen children being taught that they are killing the earth and as a school project they should say sorry to the earth for being born)

Given the direction society seems to be heading, since everywhere we look we are being saturated with this sort of propaganda, i could see continued growth of rationalizing away evil and even calling it green and good to cull populations. Today this is already happening though wars, forced abortion, harvesting of criminal body parts to be sold to the highest bidder etc. (as we are currently seeing in china). However many individuals rejoice in the idea of an abortion (one less contributer to global warming/cooling/climate change, or whatever the current flavor of dehumanization is.) I say that anybody that does, you have been had by TPTB, this is their agenda, and it is against you.

Is forced abortion evil? I'm certain than many reading this post would disagree with me when i say 'yes it is', and you are entitled to your opinion, however my answer and my opinion is directed to OP and people asking the same question rather than those who believe they know the answer.

The fact of evil in the world suggests that atheism does not benefit society as a whole and that grass roots religion which offers absolutes rights and rules that are given by god rather than given by the state or the UN what not, true or untrue, offers much greater benefits for a free society.

If you religions folk are having a tough time figuring out how we atheists enjoy life without raping, murdering, and stealing, you should just try atheism. That seems to be the same as your suggestion that we should just believe.

I get being called"subhuman". It's only fair since some atheists think the religions are a little out of sorts in the cranium. However, I don't think of myself being better. I just think of my self being able to see things more clearly. I realize some religious think the same. Do you religious folk also look at us as victims? I see a lot of religious as victims of child abuse by well meaning adults.

Originally posted by gentledissident
If you religions folk are having a tough time figuring out how we atheists enjoy life without raping, murdering, and stealing, you should just try atheism. That seems to be the same as your suggestion that we should just believe.

I get being called"subhuman". It's only fair since some atheists think the religions are a little out of sorts in the cranium. However, I don't think of myself being better. I just think of my self being able to see things more clearly. I realize some religious think the same. Do you religious folk also look at us as victims? I see a lot of religious as victims of child abuse by well meaning adults.

edit on 17-6-2011 by gentledissident because: it's early

You're not getting it. What if someone just decides to say "I disagree it's immoral" and goes ahead and does those things? You have to force it against his own will to accept a moral code, but who's moral code is correct? It's only the man with the most power who dictates what is moral. All you've done is replaced the authority of God with the authority of man. If there's no God it's the powerful men who decide what is immoral. And so there will be a power struggle in the future, so man can impose upon other men his moral code.

I don't see what's so hard about understanding the ultimate consequence of believing in no higher authority in a society after believing in a higher authority. Nietzsche got it right. The will to power is the logical step for society.

Oh btw. Almost forgot, and if you are close minded please don't go any further.
A great deal of humans clinging to atheism are demons. Energies who are stopping this planet from ascend.

Originally posted by kykweer
Then why not just say the military is going to war?

Tptb refers to a nameless, mysterious group that manipulates things from the shadows

Troops, military, armed forces are used interchangeably. So is government, TPTB, the man, the institution.

Do you correct people who use the term "our troops overseas" and tell them that they should say "our military overseas" instead?

I was first introduced to the term when it was used by Public Enemy in their song Fight the Power. To me it was a way to describe those who oppress a group of people. The reason it's vague is because it can be used to describe different PTB in different situations. TPTB that existed in South Africa during apartheid are not the same PTB that exist in Chavez's Venezuela.

I agree that often it is used to describe Illuminati, NWO, Bilderberg, Rothschild type groups and while it's use in that way is correct, I'm just pointing out that it can also be used in other ways.