BARRY LEVINSON
I Report, You Decide. By Barry Levinson
Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated radio host likes to recount this
story when he speaks before a live audience.
If you were walking alone, late at night on a dark and deserted street
and you saw a large group of teenagers in gang style clothing, would
you feel more safe or less safe if you knew they just came from a
Christian bible study class?
Even the most ardent atheist if they were being truthful, would have
to say that they would feel more safe knowing that this large group of
teenagers just came from a Christian bible study session.
What does that tell you about the goodness of the Judeo-Christian
faiths? It tells you that even an atheist knows that being a religious
Christian is a net positive to how people will behave in society.
I like to recount this story because it proves a point that having
Western religious moral values is a good thing for the individual and
for society as well.
Does that mean that atheists are by in large bad people? This is
obviously not true. But the point is that just knowing someone is an
atheist really tells you nothing either positive or negative about the
character and values of that person.
And in fact that is what I perceive as a real shortcoming in atheism, is
that it provides no moral backbone for the individual to draw on. In the
atheist’s world each individual can and does come up with their own
set of “moral” principles.
For me, I will draw on the 10 Commandments as the cornerstone of
my moral principles.
#1 by Anonymous on August 9, 2014 - 1:03 pm
The most dangerous among us are those who put god at the tip of their sword.