Telling right from wrong without the help of God
By: Wilson Huhn.
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Durham, N.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 190
ISBN-13: 9781594605369
Subjects: Conduct of life; Rationalism; Atheism; Agnosticism
Description: "How do you tell right from wrong? If you are a religious person, you probably rely at least in part upon the traditions and teachings of your faith. But what if you do not believe in God, or if you believe that no human being or institution can speak for God? How does an atheist or an agnostic make moral choices? In this book Wilson Huhn shows how to construct and how to apply a system of telling right from wrong that does not depend upon belief in God."

"This is not a book that condemns or ridicules religion. Instead, Huhn shows how atheists and agnostics can integrate a number of elements, including religious teaching, secular philosophy, cognitive psychology, and common sense as components of their moral decisionmaking. At several points Huhn critiques the sufficiency of religious teaching, and he contrasts "reality-based" with "faith-based" thinking in a number of contexts, but the principal point of this book is to demonstrate all of the different considerations that people should take into account in telling right from wrong."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Faith and belief; title: God is love; title: What religion is good at; title: What religion is poor at; title: Evolution and the meaning of life; title: Religion and self government; title: How religion helps us to be better people; title: Prayer; title: Forgiveness; title: The Parables; title: The afterlife; title: Ethical philosophy; title: What if everybody acted like that; title: What would they think; title: Sportsmanship; title: The golden rule; title: Moral development; title: Values and telling right from wrong; title: Application; title: The sense of superiority; title: Good and evil; title: Raising children; title: Fatalism; title: The death of loved ones; title: Life; title: Sex; title: Anger; title: Ritual sin; title: Race; title: Gender; title: Charitable impulses and unintended consequences; title: Poverty; title: Materialism; title: Homosexuality; title: Myths; title: Professional ethics; title: The child sexual abuse scandal; title: School prayer; title: Addictions; title: Sacraments; title: War; title: Guns; title: The war on terror and the rule of law; title: Constitutional idolatry; title: Nature; title: Conflicting responsibilities; title: Speaking out; title: Conclusion: It's up to us.