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Penn Jillette: Atheism and Islamophobia

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Just watch that video and tell me what you make of Penn Jillettes thoughts. Personally, I have no criticism, as it fits my views perfectly.
 
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tinker683

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Just watched the video.

While I do not consider myself an atheist any longer, I can agree with his sentiments, though I do feel he’s making this harder than it needs to be.

After watching his video I got the impression from that there was some agreed up equivocation that if you are an atheist, then you’re somehow expected to be hostile towards Muslims or Christians and I can not help but feel like that is a false dichotomy. Being an atheist, or a Christian, or a Muslim, says absolutely NOTHING about what kind of human being you are or will be. In fact, being an atheist does not tell you anything about someone’s morality as atheism does not possess any sort of inherit moral ‘code’, it just means the individual does not believe in a deity.

Now, many atheists are humanists, and Humanism has morals and values and such and you want to judge Humanists by there morals and their codes then feel free to do so but asking me how an atheist feels about something is like asking me what a black person feels about something: It’s a question that lacks specificity.

Now all of that being said, I’m going to assume Penn is a Humanist and simply say: If your religious or non-religious doctrines say that you shouldn’t help another human being that is suffering, then your doctrines are garbage and need revision.

So in regards to Syrian refugees: Our desire and ability to help them should not at all be influenced or dictated by our doctrines but by our basic humanity and empathy. Anything desire to think it beyond that is too me overdoing it.
 

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Just watched the video.

While I do not consider myself an atheist any longer, I can agree with his sentiments, though I do feel he’s making this harder than it needs to be.

After watching his video I got the impression from that there was some agreed up equivocation that if you are an atheist, then you’re somehow expected to be hostile towards Muslims or Christians and I can not help but feel like that is a false dichotomy. Being an atheist, or a Christian, or a Muslim, says absolutely NOTHING about what kind of human being you are or will be. In fact, being an atheist does not tell you anything about someone’s morality as atheism does not possess any sort of inherit moral ‘code’, it just means the individual does not believe in a deity.

Now, many atheists are humanists, and Humanism has morals and values and such and you want to judge Humanists by there morals and their codes then feel free to do so but asking me how an atheist feels about something is like asking me what a black person feels about something: It’s a question that lacks specificity.

Now all of that being said, I’m going to assume Penn is a Humanist and simply say: If your religious or non-religious doctrines say that you shouldn’t help another human being that is suffering, then your doctrines are garbage and need revision.

So in regards to Syrian refugees: Our desire and ability to help them should not at all be influenced or dictated by our doctrines but by our basic humanity and empathy. Anything desire to think it beyond that is too me overdoing it.
Absolutely. While I strongly oppose religion as an idea, I’ve had to be more cautious in recent years because people misunderstand my stance and think I dislike religious people, as well. I’d consider myself an Atheist Humanist, though I’m less committed to social justice than I used to be since I was overextending myself. That said, I still think if people need help, they should get it.
 

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@tinker
did you convert to some religion?
 
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