Atheists are less moral then Christians.

I love the interest this debate has generated and I'm going to do the best I can to represent the Atheist community! "If you are an Atheist that claims to be moral, you should consider yourself a secular humanist, not an atheist. " That's precisely the point. I am an atheist AND a secular humanist, the point of this debate is to prove that atheists are no less moral (in fact, i believe that in general we are more moral) then our Christian counterparts. I am glad that you brought up secular humanism because that's what I was referring to when I said that atheists might lack a set of supernatural beliefs (like the belief in God and Jesus and all of his magic) but that doesn't mean they lack a moral philosophy! You don't need to believe in God to accept and live according to basic guiding principles. As a matter of fact, I would even argue that a literal interpretation of the Bible and "God's Word" would actually conflict with some of the most basic and intuitive moral judgements. Take for example these passages from the Old Testament: DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21 If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately. LEVITICUS 18:19 The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be executed. DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12 If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her. These do not appear to be analogies for some inner conflict. These are (and were intended to be) explicit instructions for living a moral life, with the understanding that some omniscient creator desired humans to behave this way. Part of the beauty of atheism is that we can laugh at this sort of psycho religious babble, but unfortunately for Christians its not that easy. Even if you don't accept these literal instructions the obliging Christian still has to maintain that the Bible is the ultimate "moral compass" and by conceding that the Bible is "just a product of its time" you are also undermining its ultimate moral worth because true objective morals don't change with time. Our understanding of morality develops and grows and we come closer and closer to this ideal (perhaps unattainable) understanding of what is moral behavior. But lets not forget that fundamentalist Christians do embrace the literal interpretation of the Bible and many groups have often times advocated "Biblical justice" be delivered upon gays and lesbians. Does this make them any less Christian? or any less moral from a Christian perspective because they've adopted a literal interpretation of Christian dogma? Wouldn't this make them better Christians? Id like to address your argument about acting out of "fear of God" and how you believe that this fear makes Christians more moral then Atheists. I find this argument to be very problematic because it doesn't claim that Christians are actually moral people, instead you argue that they are more prone to getting "scared into being good". The topic of this debate is whether Christians are actually more moral then atheists not if they are generally scared into being moral. Augustine (one of Christianity's founding philosophical advocates) and Immanuel Kant have both argued that true morality are the motivations that drive them. For example, if you are nice to someone because you are scared they are going to punch you in the face if you are mean, you have acted moral solely out of self interest, which really isn't very moral at all, is it? Atheists on the other hand act according to principles that they determine and believe in. One of mine is the Golden Rule (which can be found in almost every religion), treat others as you would like to be treated. I don't behave this way because I'm scared God is going to send me to hell if I don't. I do it because it is a principle I believe in NOT because it is simply within my best interest to act moral. "Christians are more forgiving. Christians are more generous. Christians are less angry. These are all generalizations. But, come on. Real Christians are very nice and kind people. " Perhaps there are very kind and nice Christians but these kind of generalizations do nothing for your argument. I'm going to instead use facts and statistics to make my point that overall a Christian population behave less moral then an Atheist population. Take for example, Norway. Norway has embraced secularism at the expense of its Christian roots. A 2005 survey conducted by Gallup International rated Norway the least religious country in Western Europe (70% embracing a form of atheism/agnosticism). And how has this faired for the Norwegian population? he Global Peace Index rates Norway the most peaceful country in the world. The Human Development Index, a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standard of living, has ranked Norway No. 1 every year for the last five years. Norway has the second highest GDP per capita in the world, an unemployment rate below 2 percent, and average hourly wages among the world's highest. Compare this to the United States, the "Christian Nation", with 85-90% embracing a form of Christianity. Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, the most violent nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations and give an astoundingly small amount in foreign aid to developing countries relative to our bloated income. Teenage pregnancy? We're at the top of the charts. Divorce rates? Again, top of the carts with over half of American marriages ending in divorce. I could go on and on but needless to say that it appears that more Christians does not lead to a more moral society, as a matter of fact, one could argue the opposite. I would like to end my response with a few definitions: Religion: A religion is a set of beliefs and practices generally held by a human community. Atheism: A = Not. Theism = A belief in God. --> A disbelief in God. "Religious implies believing in god. " Not necessarily! This might anger some of the people commenting below but Atheism really is a religion in the simplest sense. We Atheists have a belief system because it cannot be proven the God doesn't exist therefore we must take it on faith that he doesn't exist (granted a whole lot less faith is needed to believe he doesn't exist then believing that he does exist). This set of belief(s) results in practices that are left up to the individual but are ultimately guided by the fact that no God or afterlife exists so you should live accordingly! Make the most of your life and enjoy it with those that you love, in a way our set of beliefs re-affirm the importance of life far more then Christianity (or any religion that believes in a reward in the afterlife) ever could! We've got nothing to prove to God but we've got plenty to prove to ourselves. Thanks again! -connor