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GOD SAID SO

2/24/2016

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As a response to violent attacks by religious fanatics, we have been hearing a lot of messages from religious moderates about how there should be no violence in the name of religion. As a humanist and an atheist, it does make me wonder about the mental exercise required to go from religious fanatic to religious moderate. I assume that for religious people, this may not be an easy task. As an atheist, recognizing that violence is wrong is simply a matter of common sense. As a believer, it involves defying  god's commands.
 
This is what I would like to understand: If you believe in a god and you follow instructions from a religious text, how do you justify ignoring the rules where your god demands violence?
 
For example: Let's assume that today is September 10th, 2001 and you have been given 24 hours to talk to one of the terrorists getting ready to fly a plane into the World Trade Center.  Do you believe you could convince this man to change his mind? How do you prove to someone that their actions are immoral if they tell you that they are doing it because “God said so"?
 
It seems to me that it is much easier for atheists to be peaceful because we are not burdened by the inflexibility of violent religious texts. It is ironic that atheists are criticized for not following an absolute moral code, while we see religious moderates who avoid becoming fanatics by applying moral relativism to their texts and tempering their fanaticism with humanism. It turns out that religious moderates are good, not because of the rules they follow but because of the rules they choose to ignore.
 
I would like to hear from religious moderates; people that still believe in a god, but would never use religion to justify violence. How do you do justify reading the Bible or the Quran and ignoring some parts? 
 
This is an important question because even though many members of our religious community would never use religion to justify violence, they still feel morally justified in using religion to discriminate against women and homosexuals. Humanists and atheists don't understand why some people still belong to religious organizations which condemn same-sex marriage. The fact that women still belong to religious institutions which do not treat them as equals is incomprehensible to us. This is why we need help understanding how to best combat religious violence, religious bigotry and religious hate.
 
How can atheists help our religious brothers and sisters improve their moral character? We would like to know how to respond to someone who justifies their actions by saying: "God said so."
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    Author

    Raúl Martínez is a proud secular humanist and part-time comedian from Las Vegas. Born in Mexico City, he moved to the United States in 1996 and became a citizen in May of 2001. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Humanist Association from January 2009 to December 2014. In 2011, he became one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Nevada for the right of atheists to perform marriages - this after having his application denied twice by the County Clerk for not being a member of a religious organization.

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