Faith leads to this. I cannot sum it up any better than to direct you to the secret comments between believers about faith—do not deny! HERE
The comments are particularly good. Gods chosen are judge and jury. Of course they have relinquished there own moral autonomy and know longer no better.
“Backyard in the lowering sun”
TheCommonAtheist 
It’s definitely a culture of Divine Command Theory where whatever God says is good is good and whatever he says is bad is bad. Morality comes from God in every situation to people like this. So slavery is good, rape is fine sometimes (as long as you marry your victim) killing gay people, adulterers and blasphemers is a-ok. This is why i take issue when people say morality only comes from God and you can only know what he wants from the Bible. disgusting and inhumane actions are being touted as moral.
I’ll give you a personal example of how acceptance and love can be viewed so differently from the point of view of a believer and a non-believer. I haven’t spoken to my brother in years. I am no longer on Facebook, but I created a page to look him up and find out what he’s been up to. I did this just last night so the timing of your post is quite perfect. So it turns out my brother married a woman about 5 years ago. That was good. I was happy for him. And more recently…he came out as a transgender woman himself. That was quite the shock. He is going through the transition of becoming a female after over 40 years being a male.
Now, back when I was a believer, I know for a fact that my views of his transformation would be in line with the Christians who commented on that link you shared. I would be disgusted, not wanting to even listen to his reasoning. I would think him to be a sinner who should be “corrected” by believers and if that didn’t work, should be shunned.
But when I saw his announcement of no longer being Fred and instead being Heather, I just smiled. He…I guess she now, looked so happy and has a loving wife who still supports. She didn’t leave. She didn’t lash out. She supported out of pure love.
I reached out to him through a message but haven’t heard back yet. I am nervous, but hopeful that the way I talked to him years ago as a Christian didn’t completely burn the bridge between us. I have nothing but love for him and wish him nothing but happiness. Why not condemn? Because people are people that come in all shapes and love in all sorts of ways. It is never anyone’s place to tell another how to do that.
I just wanted to share that as a believer, condemnation and ridicule come easily. It flows right out of you. Without a belief in God and instead a a love of people, you show compassion without expecting anything in return. You show empathy without being told to. You have morality based on what is best for all people and not dictated by a monster who clearly doesn’t understand what being moral actually means.
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Nice. Thanks Ben. I’m so pleased Heather gets to live the rest of her life without living by someone else’s ideals.
Last week someone said I’m a better Christian now than when I was one. Without any ego, she’s was probably right. This is what happens when you mature in the faith [sic] and develop the integrity to plot your own, better way.
These commentators on the blog I referred are a perfect example of why we still need religion, right up until we don’t. They have not field tested the doctrine—they only know the words.
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Memorization and regurgitation of tired old words…but no real compassion. Repetition does not equal love. If being a believer in God requires belief and acceptance of immoral things such as is taught in the scriptures, no thank you.
Why is it we humans understand right and wrong better than the “god of the universe”?
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It reminded me of your mirrors post. When we allow ideas to hijack our minds, we even see our intolerance of our own families as a virtue.
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Yeah. Religion does hijack our minds. Really, any ideas can do that, but the ones instilled in us by religious dogma are quite powerful. When you are in it, you can’t see it. All you see is a “new you.” You see the born again person you were designed to be and all your hatred, bigotry and disgust for those different than you are looked at as piety. They are virtuous thoughts, as you are becoming more Christ-like. The mirror deceives us greatly.
When I look in the mirror now, I see a lot of regret for how I used to be but I also see a new me who is open, accepting and loving of others. I wish I never was the way I was but I am happy to see the mirror reflecting reality instead of a false image.
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I just left a comment on that site that I presume will be moderated out of existence, but that is okay. It is going to resonate in the blogger’s mind for awhile. I quoted some scripture at them. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Judgment is mine, saith the lord! (Did I screw up on that one, was it “Justice is mine!” Oh well. Shit happens.) Love thy neighbour as thyself. And then I added that only they and their god know what they are guilty of, and that should worry them more than what they think others are guilty of. Nope, won’t get printed…
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They are pretty good about accepting comments. Treat others the way they want to be treated would be better. Christianity’s version “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, really speaks volumes about how they feel about themselves. Self deprecation through submission to an angry god figure doesn’t really bode well for human expectations.
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That “golden rule is not very golden.” How should a masochist treat others?
As for christians, if they allowed themselves to be treated the way they treat others, then few would be alive past 20.
Naw, don’t like that rule nohow!
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It was an interesting comment about denying Jesus and knowing when to bug out because the world is getting so terrible. It’s actually the safest time in the known history to be alive. It’s not because we’re more religious, it’s because we’re less. Fairness and equality measures still have a way to go, but we are making progress there I n spite of religious efforts to keep their own versions of sharia law.
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That’s one way life is better, but considering the state of climate disasters, and the real possibility of nuclear war, I cannot agree this is the best time to be alive. It might be one of the worst.
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Statistically your chances of early death by violence is much lower than any time in history. Part of the problem with all access news. We hear the bad all the time. Life is pretty good, actually. I turned off the tv 12 years ago and just live. It’s quite good actually.
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I spent years without a tv. My girlfriend can’t do without it. A lose-lose situation.
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She must be an awfully good woman to put up with you. She stays. The tv stays. Smart man!
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Anyone who can put up with me is better than good. Amazing. Even my ex-wife gave up trying. And she had seven years practice before we tied the knot.
I realize my foibles, and I try. But it isn’t easy, for her.
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My wife is a gem too. Much less worry and attempts to control my surroundings now as a un-belifer I see the happy in everything.
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There is a lot of it there to see. But you have to know how to look, lol.
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Hello Jim. I am at a loss to understand how simple courtesy is something to be condemned and denied by religious people? What could be the cost of being nice? Is an angry hateful demeanor an improvement. If you tell me you prefer to be called Fred even though your name is Jim, I would call you Fred. That is just being polite.
I also do not understand why at a time when these people are demanding tolerance for pushing their religion on others, they think it is a saving grace to deny it to anyone else. I insist on something I refuse to give to you. I don’t get it. I would be much more tolerant of religious ideas if those religious people were more tolerant of those around them. The idea that God is suddenly going to grow angry and destroy the _____ ( insert favorite target here ) because of something that has been around in different forms for the entire history of life on this planet is stupid. Reminds me of those who say God is going to destroy the US because we allow same sex marriage, but they seem to forget that same sex marriage has been legal in some countries for almost 25 years now. It is this idea that only them, their views, their country, their brand of something is the best and only one that counts. Be well. Hugs
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I am writing this to you Scottie, but I wish I could direct it to everyone who has commented on this post. Religious folk fear anyone who is not of their religion. People who do not believe in their brand of anything means a chance they are wrong, and if you believe in heaven and hell it is a scary proposition to fear that you might be wrong. So they dig in their heels, and believe all the harder. But no matter how hard they believe, they cannot change how others believe. Still they try, and every success is a blow against those who do not believe, but every failure is a personal blow to their faith.
Some know this, most do not. It seldom happens at conscious levels. But it happens, and they feel they have to strike out, take control. They have to reinforce their belief by trying to make everyone like them, while deep down they know what they really want is to be like everyone else. That would scare them even more if they knew. But they cannot allow themselves to know, they think it would destroy them. But as deconverts know, it does not destroy, it frees them to be themselves. Like a gay person coming out, it is freedom. Be yourself. Religious folk want to be someone they are not. The hate they feel for themselves is turned into hate against those different from themselves.
So they hate you. So they hate me. It is easier than hating themselves.
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Hello Rawgod. Well said, very well said. Thanks. Hugs
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Ethics and morality are not centered in what God tells people, unless they believe that. Polytheistic societies have their ethics, which served them quite well. Nobody has a monopoly on what ethical.
As for the Golden Rule, it is monopolist religious thinking to believe it exists everywhere. The rule is based on a very specific teaching of Christ to his followers, and is not generic to other religions.
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Actually, the Golden Rule is present in almost every religion. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule
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What the Wikipedia article did was to take the various sayings out of their cultural context. Viewing things in a Monotheistic culture as the West, the Golden Rule becomes a worldwide ideal. However, once you start looking at each saying in its culture such as Confucius – it becomes something different. He was addressing only males of his class, not everyone as was Christ.
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Judaism predates Christianity, of course, and it’s present in Judaism. Jesus was a Jew. He didn’t come up with this stuff himself.
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That site is evidence that Catholics can be (under the right conditions) as crazy and as dangerous as evangelicals.
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It’s even under a lais·sez-faire kind of assumption from a position of unquestioned authority, that it just has to be that way—until the boss says different. Complete submission and defense of the indefensible.
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You see that in the way Philip refers back to Augustine, as if “That’s just the authorative truth.”
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That same authority that authorized the use of force to convert people. But that’s not what Jesus meant… But it is the result of unfettered religious control. Not just a tyrant ir two, w but widespread in every town and hamlet where faith has its rule.
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The whole religion debate/arguments would be so much more fun and valuable if there really was a god/gods/goddess. Since there is/are not, their arguments are pointless. But, the resulting tribalism from religious one-upmanship is (as stated in the referenced piece) deadly.
Bang! You’re dead and god is on my side.
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