h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Aquinas' religion influenced his thinking, and an atheist would probably come up with different rules."

Probably not.
I am an atheist, and I'm surprised and saddened by most people's ideas about atheists.
Many a times, atheists are considered synonymous to satanists/evil.
That simply is not the case.
Most atheists are rational individuals, and no matter what she/he may believe, that rationality will come through.
What I'm trying to say is that Aquinas' rules are very very logical and humanitarian, and no atheist would want to change it (except for the evil part - that's too ambeguious)

Shaunak.

I didn't mean that atheists are evil. I just meant that he was no doubt influenced by the bible, the principles of the church and the politics at the time of his life.
Perhaps someone else would think that the 'must be started by the ruler' rule is daft because everyone's equal, or something like that.

This sounds like the thinking of American Christian "fundamentalists" to me. I live in Scotland, and atheists are *not* equated with evil. In a country that is second only to Northern Ireland in Catholics and Protestants seemingly wanting to kill each other, the non-believers are the good guys, mark my words

Believe you me, things are worst in the American South, where EVERYBODY is Southern Baptist... These are the people who boycott Disney because they promote Gay rights, and encourage women to be housewives, and that all immigrants should be deported. It can get pretty scary down here if you're an out-of-the-closet atheist

I did not mean what you thought I did ... *sleepy*
OK, I'm sleep deprived now, so this may not come out coherently.

I never said you're equating atheists with evil.
I said people do.
And yes, an atheist would probably do away with the *started by ruler* condition, but if you look at it long enough with one eye closed and one hand on a steam iron, you'll see that today, the people are supposed to be their own rulers. So this may not be out of place.
Of course, this never happens in any democracy because of all the corporate interest lobbying (takes place in each country).

Shaunak.

The non-believers are the good guys?
Are you serious?
WOW.

Shaunak.

Oh by the way, does anyone have an extra island lying around unused?
If you do, would you consider making it the sovreign nation of all who feel people may believe what they like?
Something like that is really needed right now.
I could be the Chancellor.
Hmm.

Yep, sleep deprivation.

Shaunak.

Where does it say in the bible that all immigrants should be deported?

Nowhere that I know of, but some part in it must be construed that way around here...

If you're going to deport immigrants, how far back do you go?
I guess you'll be deporting the caucasians from America, leaving the land to the red Indians.

I think the issue here is conscience. Whether you are atheist, Christian or any other religious group we all share the inherent human quality of conscience. Now conscience can be informed (or misinformed), and it can be clouded over (which is I guess why some people can do horrible things and think they are the right things to do). Where conscience comes from I guess it depends on what your beliefs are, as a Catholic I believe conscience comes from God as a mechanism to help us determine right from wrong, atheists *might* believe that it comes from some evolutionary process, but thats a different debate.
And on the issue of Catholics and Protestants being at each others throats in Northern Ireland and other places, is less to do with their supposed faith (I would argue that they are Christians by name only those who willing kill "the other side" just because they are who they are) and more to do with hitorical issues and human weakness rather than the teachings of various Christian denominations. As a Catholic from New Zealand I don't share the prejudice of the vast-minority of Catholics in Northern Ireland who are a part of the violence.

Um, no, they have to go, too, seein' as they weren't from there originally. SBs are a fascinatingly inconsistent people. I'm surrounded by them. You wanna have some fun? Look up the Christian Nudist sites.

Hey, 187975! Write something in your journal or intro so we can come yak at you!

Welll, I can see I'm posting way too slowly today. Now he's got a name! Frrrffftt! I'm gonna go do the dishes.

>Believe you me, things are worst in the American South, where EVERYBODY is Southern Baptist... These are the people who boycott Disney because they promote Gay rights, and encourage women to be housewives, and that all immigrants should be deported. It can get pretty scary down here if you're an out-of-the-closet atheist

I don't think its as bad as all that. I'm an athiest, and I've lived in Georgia for 7 years without a great deal of difficulty. It is true that you can't throw a rock without hitting two churches.

I live in a very diverse community. In addition to the baptists, we have methodists.

Where I work, there are several people with who aren't christains. I am an atheist. I even have a budhist. I had to get the guys to calm down last week. They were making fun of chirstianity in roll call. Oh God, I could just see the work place harassment law suit coming.

Yeah, but Southern Baptist Nudists are cool!
Just the concept is fun!
The fact that they really exist is fascinating.
Now, nudist Muslims, ......
Um, well it would make them less uptight.

I'm an atheist and I'd change part of it. THe part about a leader having to start it is unreasonable because sometimes a civil war is just and necesary. THe American revolution, the French revolution, and the Russian revolution were all just and well justifed, although I thnk that the second and third got out of hand and became unjustifed when they turned into excuses to kill everyone who disagreed.