Quick lesson in logic - Part 2

The second half of my conversation on logic the other day concerned the civil law.

One of the silly accusations that you get from most kinds of religious fundamentalists is the belief that atheists do not have any moral values and are all for illegality.

The question of what is moral is "open" anyway, but I have no problem having law and order out there. A society where anyone is allowed to kill anyone because they feel like it? Urghh! No thanks!

This is not because of any Biblical (or Koranic or wharrever) statement that "thou shalt not kill". It is rather that we need an ordered world to live in.

The civil law provides that. Unlike religious law, it is is democratic, it is all-inclusive, it applies to everyone, and it punishes real wrongdoers, not people who happen to have a different take on the world.

If we want to see religious law in the "Christian" world, why criticise the "Muslim" world for having Sharia Law, as awful as that is? It is apostasy in the "Muslim" world to renounce your faith, and the punishment for that is death. Consequently when you reach the logical conclusion that there is no God, and you happen to live in Riyadh .... either shut up, contain your feelings, or be prepared to feel a sharp edge running down your neck shortly!

Christian Law - mainly old Jewish Law, but anyway, do we accept everything written there, like what is in Deuteronomy ch 22, vv 20-21? Check it out some time. Not just Islam, folks ....

Ah, but the civil law allows all sorts of awful things like .... you name it. It does not seem to throw itself after "immorality". I agree that it has its flaws, but we can always see to it that the law can be changed. That is possible with religious law?

Oh, you can become an atheist in Riyadh, people voted to change the law? Really. And Deuteronomy ch 22 vv 20-1 doesn't really need to be a part of the law as most people do not want it?

Bending the rules, being selective .... as ever.

Eventually we should ensure that the place for any religion lies in the lives and homes of the people who believe in it. It involves their life and their belief system. It should not though be imposed upon the rest of society. The days of heresy should be over by now, the crime of apostasy should be buried in the medieval history books where it belongs.

And if we are concerned with moral behaviour, maybe it is time to remove the mote from our own eye first.