Innate Morality: Ever Met a Baby?

You hit the nail. Wen a Muslim straps a bomb to themself and walk into a police station and blow it up. It'sno because they are immoral, at least not in their eyes. Their sense of morality is much diffeent from ours. only a fool wouldn't see that. Which tells side two of this tale, what's that make Christopher Hitchens?

Good Post Jan

The question might be: Which planet is Chris H from?

and I believe Jim said what I was going to say.

You know I'm an atheist, Jan, which I guess means you think I have no moral center. But I just wanted to throw in that many of the religious people I've met are more self-righteous than happy, and they get that self-righteousness, I believe, from their religion confirming weekly that their most closed-minded opinions are correct. And many also seem to think that going to church or synagogue once a week makes them good people. The behavior of many of them contradicts that belief.

I'm not raising my kid in a religious vacuum. That -- I believe -- would not be right to him. He'll make up his mind how he feels later in life. After all, I was indoctrinated for many years and hence came to my own realizations later. He should be permitted the same freedom.

And despite being raised by an atheist, he's considered by many one of the best-behaved kids they know.

You are putting words in my mouth. Or on my blog. I did not say ANYTHING about you. I don't know you. I do know that atheists often think they came up with their "moral center," whatever that is, on their own, but in fact when one is raised in a Judeo-Christian atmosphere one's morals tend to derive from that, historically as well as personally. Just a fact.
Of COURSE there are self-righteous religious people! And self-righteous non-religious people, hmm? Religion does not guarantee that one will behave in a holy fashion, but it does give one a guideline and a higher plane to aspire to. I did not raise my kids in church per se, but now they go because they wanted that higher plane and the sense that life has meaning as well as purpose. It has made them happier and more self confident. It has given them "the peace that passeth understanding." A good thing, I think.
Good for your son, that HE is good. But don't think it comes from nowhere. God bless him!

Jan --

We are in agreement about self-righteousness. I tried reading a few books by anti-religionists, including Hitchens, and my main problem was that they were as self-righteous and arrogant as the religious writers. So I put them down after a few chapters or pages.

"I don't believe in fairies, and I have yet to feel compelled to write a book about them, since I don't think they exist."

What if you were raised to believe in fairies, were surrounded by people who believed in fairies, and were told that there was something wrong with you because you don't believe in fairies?

And what if there were extremists who thought there was REALLY something wrong with you because you were supposed to be going to a place at least once a week to praise fairies?

What if your country's currency praised fairies, your president took an oath to fairies, and celebrities thanked fairies every time they got an award?

After a while, might you be tempted to write something about how you don't believe in fairies and are sick of being surrounded by references to them?