Counterpoint: Murder As an Effect Term Paper

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If it were the case that illegal conduct in general and murder in particular were effects of atheism, there would be many more atheist criminals and murders in society and comparatively fewer criminals and murderers who are not atheists. The fact of the matter is that, according to authorities like the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics as well as studies of prison inmates in the United Kingdom, atheists represent only a very small minority of incarcerated prisoners, and the vast majority of imprisoned criminals and murderers are not atheists, but Christians (Guessous, 2001).

Atheists believe that there are no consequences of their actions in the divine sense, but they fear the legal consequences of their conduct just as much as theists. Even someone who does not believe in God is deterred from committing murder by the prospect of life imprisonment or the death penalty.

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Belief in God is no guarantee of moral conduct, particularly where someone believes all his sins are automatically forgiven by a God who forgives, in advance, the sins of anyone who believes in Him.

Conversely, many vocal atheists like Albert Einstein argued very passionately that man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties, and needs. No religious basis is necessary." (Einstein, 1954). Human beings share both natural virtues such as compassion for others, and a natural capability to learn right from wrong by moral teachings that do not relate to an higher power. Religious teachings are just one way of instilling morals, but other methods are equally successful, such as the definitions of right and wrong by people who consider themselves "moral atheists.".....

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