Atheists Banned From Public Office in 7 State Constitutions

December 14, 2009 on MSNBC -

via http://atheistmedia.com

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• rachel
• maddow
• atheists
• public
• office
• Cecil
• Bothwell
• north
• carolina
• church
• state
• christian
• atheist
• atheism

[DandAinTac]

Atheists are actively and often openly and LEGALLY discriminated against, yet Christians are constantly whining about being persecuted--often just on the basis of someone preferring to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christimas".

[TheAtheistSocialist]

People who believe in fairytales should not have political power !

Religion = Immorality. 

[CHRLPTRSN]

@DaToNyOyO

My position is this:

The conscience is tied to empathy, which is essentially experiencing the emotions of others.

The human brain is "hard-wired" to develop this empathy when one is around 2-3 years old and before this happens everyone is essentially a psychopath.

An upbringing which contains a lot of emotional pain will cause the brain to, as a defense mechanism, disable emotional input, thus disabling empathy and conscience as well.

[DaToNyOyO]

@CHRLPTRSN

So your position is that the developing brain is genetically "hard-wired" to create "a conscience", that is then programmed via social upbringing?

If that's the case, is it not simply that the conscience is just the formation of *a way of thinking* and relating to environmental stimulus? A method of determining outcomes?

And since all ways of perceiving the world depend upon *learned* methods of processing information, is the conscience not just a creation of social necessity?

[CHRLPTRSN]

@DaToNyOyO Every single argument you make is based on the idea that a conscience is learned through upbringing. If that is the case, I agree with you.

The thing is, I don't believe it is caused by upbringing, and annoyingly enough, experts have that same disagreement, meaning this is essentially a matter of opinion or faith. I am certainly open to the idea that I could be wrong about it - it just doesn't seem natural to me.

[DaToNyOyO]

@CHRLPTRSN

Acceptance of moral guidelines and rules is a necessity for survival of the group and, ultimately, of the species. These rules and guidelines form the basis of your conscience. It is not "there by default". That's why different societies have differing rules of behaviour, and they are accepted without guilt. It's why society has become less bigoted and hateful of others.

Social upbringing does not cause someone to become a sociopath; a sociopath is born with "bad" brain chemistry.

[pastafarianprophet]

Why can't atheists just leave religious people alone? This is why. Religious people hate truth like vampires hate sunlight. I say bring 'em out in the light of day and watch them disintegrate. Ridicule them right out of the public sphere. Delusional childish morons.

[CHRLPTRSN]

@DaToNyOyO No, a conscience is there by default. Social upbringing may cause it to become blocked, however - as with empathy. This is how a natural human becomes a sociopath.

[DaToNyOyO]

@nnjhansen And yet atheist countries are by far safer and more comfortable to live in than theist countries.

[DaToNyOyO]

@CHRLPTRSN The conscience is a construct of a social upbringing.

[DaToNyOyO]

@CHRLPTRSN They KNOW you're a prick.