Psychocouch on Religion

Brenda Scott said:It’s a shame, really. If the problem had been framed differently, there could have been some actual potential for a decent debate (like I mentioned earlier). The religion mods could have stepped in and adjusted it—changing "what keeps atheists from..." to "what keeps anyone..." That way, we could have actually discussed things within the context of faith, atheism, and all that.
It's just a waste when a potentially good topic gets watered down like this.

Sure. The answer is that most people—your typical Joe and Nancy Average types—are held back by one thing: fear of legal, earthly consequences. Don't take my word for it; just look at the Milgram experiment on obedience. In that study, perfectly ordinary people, the vast majority of them, went ahead and subjected others to electric shocks without a second thought. They even "administered" doses that were more than enough to kill the person on the other side.

Later on, they couldn't give any real explanation for what they did, other than being obedient to an "Authority." 😉

That’s exactly why in wars, those same Average Joes turn into cold-blooded killers and torturers overnight (or "heroes," depending on who you ask). It happens because personal responsibility for what are otherwise the most heinous crimes becomes blurred or disappears entirely. Or, Joe just finds himself lost in his own delusional messiah complex.

Strictly on topic: This whole subject is extremely problematic. Even the opening post gives me a bad feeling. The real question isn't "What stops you from taking care of a sick person?"

dustyranger64 said:Well, it really just comes down to how you look at it. I’m picking up on some heavy irony in those posts—though I could be wrong—so if that's the case, I don't think it's admiration at all...

The lord calls it an "epochal forum suicide" 😉

I'm on board with everything else you said here (just like Sea Princess), and honestly, this whole thread probably should've been nuked from the start, but regarding that specific point, I think the lord hit the nail on the head—it wasn't her intention, and she likely won't even realize what happened, but she basically just scored an own goal...

urbantrucker5 said:@Velvet, I’m with you—the author was clearly being rude and trying to take a jab at atheists. But honestly, her whole premise is just pure nonsense. She's basically assuming everyone is a born sadist and that faith is the only thing keeping believers from going on a killing spree.

That kind of logic is an insult to anyone with a pulse, believer or atheist alike. I don't get how this was even allowed to stay up 🤷

It's messed up. Reading that stuff was just straight-up sick. Bloody dreams and all that "kick kick, punch punch" nonsense about playing with someone tied up on an island.

I see why she started this thread—to slap atheists in the face. But letting a thread like this exist is a slap in the face to believers, too. And really, to any decent person who isn't a total psychopath, which most of us are. 😉

Your forecast actually came true. Here's where she’d (again) justify a massacre, using that classic theist line: "if God told her to do it, just like He told Moses":

If our God in the Bible ordered Moses to slaughter people, then He had his reasons, and there's no need to feel guilty or try to make excuses. If God told me to do the same, I'd do it, too. His decisions are just, and if we question them, we're only hurting ourselves.