Atheism and Compassion

My friend Laurence was kind enough to direct me to a lovely article on Atheism and Compassion that I thoroughly enjoy. Blackford very beautifully and clearly illustrates that religion does not have a monopoly on morality and ethics, as individuals simply mold their religious beliefs to fit their own moral boundaries.

Ideally, atheism and secularism have the advantage of holding reason-based positions, rather than positions dictated by dogma. Blackford uses abortion and euthanasia as great examples of compassionate positions that are independent of religious belief.

Blackford does a much better job than I at illustrating the point, and he does in a somewhat biting, but readable and very nicely written manner. Go check it out.

Also, speaking of compassionate atheists, for those who have been following the Damon Fowler debacle, you'll be happy to know that currently, over $25,000 $31,000 in scholarship funds have been raised for him by the secular community after he was essentially chased out of his home town by the townspeople and kicked out of his own home by his parents. His older brother is bringing him to stay with with him in Texas. It is great to see this brave kid getting the support he needs. People try to criticize the secular community for not being as well organized and lacking the structure of religious organizations when it comes to helping out our own. But what these critics fail to acknowledge are the thousands of years head-start that religious entities have on us.

I like to think that despite our relatively recent organizing and community building, we're not doing too shabby.