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Anyone catch the colossal, stark irony here? Atheists, who bristle at the idea of absolute truth, wrote their own list of do nots. The very same people who don't want an authority telling them what's moral are perfectly fine authoritatively telling us what's moral.
My question is this: In a world without objective morality, on what basis do these atheists offer us commandments about anything? Truth is relative, each person chooses for himself what to believe, and there is no imperative. However, each of their "commandments" is a moral principle, offered as self-evident truth to be embraced and promulgated. Each assumes the moral stature to apply universally.
Sounds like what a church would do, right?
Sounds like what a church would do, right?
Further, the final commandment, "there is no one right way to live," is self contradicting. Aside from the fact that there are nine previous commandments telling us how we must live, the statement asserts an absolute. That is, there is a right way to live, and that way is to live as if there is no right way to live.
There's a lot more that can be said about each one from a logical and moral perspective, but I'll leave you with a final comment about #7, "Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective." Have you heard that before? "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12
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Atheists have written their own version of the ten commandments. These commandments were chosen from submissions to Atheist Mind Humanist Heart’s (AMHH) Re-Think Prize, a crowdsourcing project.
Previously reported by the Inquisitr, in November Adam Savage announced he would be a judge in the ReThink Project, the host of MythBusters (one of only two, these days), caused a new surge of interest and awareness for the contest — so much that the contest website crashed shortly after his tweet.
As part of the crowdsourcing project, submissions were submitted to Atheist Mind Humanist Heart’s website. The submissions for new commandments were reviewed by the contest judges — Adam Savage was one of 13 judges — and ten submissions were chosen that were deemed worthy of being called commandments. The ten writers of the chosen submissions split a prize of 10,000 dollars.
In their Reddit AMA, they explained there was a need to establish what atheists believe as there is a growing percentage who count themselves as non-religious.
“Did you know that polling shows forty-five million Americans consider themselves non-religious? This number is on the rise, with a third of adults under the age of thirty self-identifying as non-believers. With atheism replacing religion for so many, the question arises: what do atheists believe in?”
“We used a philosophical approach grounded in logic and evidence to determine how to live a reasonable, ethical, and happy life without God, and we wrote a book about it.”
The ten chosen were among 2,800 total submissions. What do you think of them? You can read the original Ten Commandments here.
Atheists have written their own version of the ten commandments. These commandments were chosen from submissions to Atheist Mind Humanist Heart’s (AMHH) Re-Think Prize, a crowdsourcing project.
Previously reported by the Inquisitr, in November Adam Savage announced he would be a judge in the ReThink Project, the host of MythBusters (one of only two, these days), caused a new surge of interest and awareness for the contest — so much that the contest website crashed shortly after his tweet.
As part of the crowdsourcing project, submissions were submitted to Atheist Mind Humanist Heart’s website. The submissions for new commandments were reviewed by the contest judges — Adam Savage was one of 13 judges — and ten submissions were chosen that were deemed worthy of being called commandments. The ten writers of the chosen submissions split a prize of 10,000 dollars.
Be open-minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence.
Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true.
The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world.
Every person has the right to control over their body.
God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life.
Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them.
Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective.
We have the responsibility to consider others, including future generations.
There is no one right way to live.
Leave the world a better place than you found it.The question may be asked why it was decided to hold such a contest to rewrite the ten commandments. Lex Bayer, an executive at AirBnB, and John Figdor, a humanist chaplain at Stanford University, had created their own 10 “non-commandments” in a book they co-wrote: “Atheist Heart, Humanist Mind.” Bayer said the book forced him to clarify and articulate his own beliefs, and he thought others could benefit from doing the same.
In their Reddit AMA, they explained there was a need to establish what atheists believe as there is a growing percentage who count themselves as non-religious.
“Did you know that polling shows forty-five million Americans consider themselves non-religious? This number is on the rise, with a third of adults under the age of thirty self-identifying as non-believers. With atheism replacing religion for so many, the question arises: what do atheists believe in?”
“We used a philosophical approach grounded in logic and evidence to determine how to live a reasonable, ethical, and happy life without God, and we wrote a book about it.”
The ten chosen were among 2,800 total submissions. What do you think of them? You can read the original Ten Commandments here.
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