That not following religion is the best way to live your life.

This is fantastic, my opponent responded in exactly the way I expected, which is why I was very careful about how I worded this topic. "That not FOLLOWING religion is the best way to live your life..." There are a hundred or more debates on this site which pit believers against non-believers. I thought I'd pose a different perspective. So here we go... I am an Atheist. My parents were both raised as Catholic, but both quickly fell away from religion. My mother is a Pagan witch and my father is also an Atheist. We all agree that there is no God. My girlfriend of three years however, is a Catholic. She DOES believe that there is a Heaven; That Jesus, Adam and Eve and Moses and all their friends did exist. We get on fine. Why? Because she doesn't FOLLOW religion. Her relationship with God is personal. She takes the bits she likes and throws out the rubbish. She believes that because I'm a good person, it doesn't matter if I believe in God or not, I'll still go to Heaven. She doesn't follow religion. ---------------------------------------- Now, let me address my opponents arguments... Most of the rebuttals in my opponents round one argument address things I didn't say in any way, shape or form: "...Remember, my opponent is trying to prove that following religion is a bad way to live life..." "...my opponent asserts a priori that the best way to live life is to maximize one's pleasure at any given moment..." "...My opponent slams rules of conduct..." Huh? Where did I say any of that stuff? I suspect my opponent has a lot of prejudice against atheists like myself and jumps far too quickly to conclusions. Religion offers structure and purpose, yes. Structure and purpose in your life are good, yes. Do you need to follow a set list of rules to get this structure and purpose? No. One needs only to look around themselves and they can see all kind of purpose. One needs only to have a bit of self control and foresight and they can have all the structure they need. Religions also indeed offers rules. The ten commandments, which were what I was talking about when I spoke of "God's Word". I propose that only three that make any real sense as "Laws" (Murder, Theft, Adultery) would have been implemented as laws without Religion. ----------------------------------- My opponent proposes that I am not an atheist, but an Anti-Christian/Islamic: "...My opponent doesn't believe in an all-powerful being; this makes him not an atheist but rather an A-Christian/Muslim..." "...My opponent argues against Christianity and Islam, not against religion..." Atheist: "...a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings..." Yes, that sounds about right. However, I AM also strongly against Christianity, Catholicism and Islam on a much more specific level. Since they account for about 54% of the world population's religious belief and these religions specifically are the ones that insist you follow their rules, I believe they are the correct targets for my scorn. --------------------------------------------- I'm glad that my opponent mentioned Viktor Frankl. After being freed from the concentration camp he spent 3 years in during WW2, he went on to marry a practising Catholic women. They both went to Church and to Synagogue and celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. Sounds like a perfect example of not following religion to me. ----------------------------------------------- So the conclusion to my round 2 argument is that most of the stuff in religion is rubbish and the best way to follow it is to not follow it at all. The only good thing about religion is it encourages people to be good and it is doing a miserable job at it. It hasn't stopped it from carving a path of bloody, righteous murder through history. It doesn't stop pedophiles from becoming priests and inflicting horrific physical and emotional damage on the children they are trusted with nor has it stopped the Catholic church from covering up such atrocities for the entire length of its existence. It doesn't stop men and women blowing themselves up in the Middle East in the name of Allah. These people all follow religion, whether its interpreting a holy book a certain way or performing holy rituals to cleanse themselves of their sins. Being alive and healthy makes me happy. My family, my friends make me happy. My job, my social life, my hobbies make my happy. Sex, Alcohol and Zombie movies make me happy. There is no room for fear of god or burden of proof (whatever the hell that is) because I'm too damn busy being happy. Finally, let me address one last quote from my opponent... "...many, many religions do not have both rules and theology e.g. Buddhism (no theology) and tribal religions (no codes of conduct)..." One of my favourite quotes of all time concerning religion came from none other than the Buddha himself: "Believe nothing, o monks, merely because you have been told it ... or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings. That doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."