I’m afraid your view of atheists (as delineated by the words of Gagdad Bob), is naive. It’s akin to saying that all Christians must follow the Catholic tradition. There’s a lot of room between what Bob calls “Sacred” and treating everyone and everything like a sack of meat, with no meaning or value.
For those who do not acknowledge a specific “supreme being”, there is absolutely no reason why they can’t feel love, nurture their children, and show reverence for life.
Well posted. Merry Christmas to you. :)
Atheism is not the denial of a SPECIFIC supreme being, its the denial of ANY sort of supreme being. Agnosticism is the denial of a specific supreme being. The two are not the same and are not interchangeable.
“...For those who do not acknowledge a specific “supreme being”, there is absolutely no reason why they can’t feel love, nurture their children, and show reverence for life.” ~ GimpySadan
Note my tag line. Do you “get it”?
“..any argument for or against free will automatically presumes its existence, which in turn proves the reality of that which is free to choose, i.e., the soul. To say that free will does not exist is to void one’s argument at the outset, since one’s arguments can appeal to neither truth nor to that which may know it: as Poincaré commented, “no determinist argues deterministically,” so “all arguments against free will are so many proofs if it” (Jaki). ..
“If everything is subjective, then there can’t be free will either. This leads to an interesting speculation about the necessity of the world for God’s freedom. In other words, just like us, how could God be meaningfully free unless there are objects (or, in his case, subjects) to act upon? To put it another way, perhaps God’s freedom is ultimately given its highest expression in the existence of the human subject which can either deny or align itself with him. Thus, denial of God is the ironyclad proof of his existence. But you knew that already. ..
“Every free act transcends matter, which is why any form of materialism is anti-liberty, which is why the secular left, dipso shitso, is so dangerous. I’m very much looking forward to Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, as I am certain that this theme will be explored, thus freeing me of the responsibility. That is, intrinsic to the project of leftism is the abolition of that which transcends matter, and therefore, the dehumanization of humans. This is why their assault on religion in general and the soul in particular is not “accidental” but absolutely essential to their goals. They must replace transcendence with immanence. Once that’s accomplished, then everything else falls into place. It’s like building the cage. Once the cage of immanence is complete, then man lives behind bars he can’t even see, bars as strong as steel and as high as the imagination. ..
Degrees and Chimes of Freedom Fleshing
http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2007/12/degrees-of-human-freedom.html
Robert W.Godwin [Gagdad Bob] , Ph.D is a clinical psychologist whose interdisciplinary work has focused on the relationship between contemporary psychoanalysis, chaos theory, and quantum physics. bttt
“…There’s a lot of room between what Bob calls “Sacred” and treating everyone and everything like a sack of meat, with no meaning or value. … For those who do not acknowledge a specific “supreme being”, there is absolutely no reason why they can’t feel love, nurture their children, and show reverence for life.”
On the contrary, history and human experience shows differently. Once atheism is established in a population, as a matter of course it must migrate from the individual to all those institutions inhabited by the individual. Henceforward, for its own survival, the atheistic mindset imposes upon all creatures, great and small, its natural totalitarian impulse. When institutions become atheistic, they marginalize empathy, and mercy becomes a quaint but un-pragmatic defect of human sympathy. At that point, men lose their humanity, becoming servile objects for the state; and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is wholly subjective, being measured only by their utility to the state. That is the lesson of communism, without exception. That is the unavoidable course of all atheistic thought.
Man possesses freedom in direct proportion to his acknowledgement of God, from whom all liberty comes, for He is its author. When men disavow God, they naturally separate themselves from His charity, and thus from their own humanity, for we are created in God’s image (free will and reason). Even if unawares to an immediate consequence, nevertheless the realization materializes itself with the passage of time… without grace, the soul grows cold, as surely as does an ember without oxygen.
On what basis is the moral law found? If not upon an external point of reference that is immutable and absolute, then it cannot have value, for all just law is by its nature immutable. Men do not willingly follow what is contrary to their own selfish interests, unless something more profound compels them to do so. By what force of nature was the human conscience imbued with its unique character to “know” right from wrong, even without the external suggestion of other creatures? A higher intelligence, and one beyond the natural world, has imparted to our human flesh its stamp of law. Even though we deny, we know truth when we hear it… our conscience will not allow us to escape the divine axioms of its Creator.
So I ask: How does one show “reverence” for life, if being atheist, the concept of reverence has no basis of meaning? From whence does the word hold its place of honor? To “revere” is to place others above self. This is Agape love. True love is more than human emotion, if it is Agape love (Greek: selfless) Self-sacrifice runs contrary to the instinct for survival, in which atheists place much worth. Since this expression of Agape love runs counter to the “natural” impulse of self-preservation, then it must therefore have a noble first cause and one that is “supernatural”… but to be supernatural in cause requires a supernatural being. The One being that, by His own example, showed us the Creator Father, proved Himself divine, by His Word… by His Deeds… and by His ultimate Act of Agape love: He humbled Himself, condescending to take on human flesh, so to offer the perfect sacrifice, that perfect singular act of unselfish love by which to crush the reign of sin (the “I” found in the middle of sin: selfishness) It is that love exemplified by our Creator God, who is Jesus Christ. He died and rose again, “so that we men may have life, and have it more abundantly” … His story is true “reverence for life.”