A Deteriorating State :: Morality in the 21st Century

Atheism is in danger of becoming the central focus of this topic.
There are several threads out there: Atheism Examined or the still open Get Over Your Fear of AtheismThe question asked in the OP is: Does the state of our morality still risk such deterioration at the hands of the virus of religious fundamentalism? Where do we stand?

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Is religious fundamentalism bringing our moral system down faster than Agnostic beliefs can rebuild it?

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What examples do you have of religious fundamentalism actually bringing "our" moral system down?The group in the article is probably hurting their own cause because of their methods. Did they succeed in changing anyone's moral behavior?

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religious fundamentalism moves unchecked but for the few skeptical minds of an all-too-easily-convinced populace. Is it spreading too fast?

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What do you mean unchecked? Unchecked for what? What evidence shows you that fundamentalism is actually spreading?

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The students, the school officials, the news report, and I would imagine the general public all have shown a distaste for the message. Is this a sign of an improving morality for our nation and world, or is the mere existence of this group a sign of a worsening society?

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By going into a school under false pretenses, the group undermines their own message. They didn't stick to the program they promised. I think the existence of the group is par for the course. IMO, there are always going to be dissatisfied groups.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

You have to wonder about the competence of the principal, since the agenda of "You Can Run but You Can't Hide" as well as JYP is pretty well known and clearly stated by them in all of their literature and even their website.The issue in your example is not in the agenda of the speakers, but rather the absurd statement that the principal was surprised or shocked. For that to be true the principal was either woefully negligent in doing even a cursory diligence or dumber than a red brick. It is far more reasonable that the agenda was known beforehand but that the principal misjudged what the reaction of the students would be.As to the question asked, which seems unrelated to the example you used, you asked: I am curious how you think the example you cite has anything to do with morality?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

My position is that morality is both subjective and relative but according to current utilitarian standards, it is actually increasing over time. The argument is in the now closed thread Message 1Naturally there are other standards than the greatest good for the greatest number, such as those found among bigots, ultranationalists, and religious fanatics.

Examples?Historically...

Several Crusades

Various Inquisitions

Burning of "witches" (thou shalt not suffer a witch a to live)

Promotion of slavery (Jefferson Davis boasted slavery was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible)

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Contemporary...

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God hates fags

Waco and Jonestown

Murder of doctors (after all abortion cheapens life)

Polygamy (Mormon and Islam)

Jesus (hell) Camp

Jihad

Honor Killings

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Edited by iceage, : No reason given.

Well, the purpose of the group was to spread flawed morals. Now, there were a lot of pissed off students, and a deal of angry teachers as well. But, one could imagine, there were also a small sect in that crowd that either agreed fully with the group's message, or was swayed from a previous system of morality.This ties in with the main topic of the post, which is whether or not the religious fundamentalists are ripping society's morality apart through efforts such as this. Or whether there are enough people like the students who walked out that realize what they did was wrong.Either the mindset of the group is spreading, or it isn't. I'm not exactly sure where the world stands in regards to that, so I asked the question here And was primarily prompted to think of it because of that news report. That's a very interesting observation! I was wondering myself how someone could bring in a group like that without ever checking their website. Perhaps the principal knew all along!Jon

Actually, I wasn't trying to make an argument. I was just asking a question, which this quote answers Everything always spreads.Jon

Maybe I misunderstood what Jon was saying (which seems to be par for the course); but when he said "bringing our moral system down", my impression is that he is talking about our current secular moral system actually changing. I didn't think he was talking about the behavior of specialty groups.

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God hates fags
Waco and Jonestown
Murder of doctors (after all abortion cheapens life)
Polygamy (Mormon and Islam)
Jesus (hell) Camp
Jihad
Honor Killings

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How have any of those things changed our current secular moral system for the worst?

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

Let me try this another way.What do you mean by bringing our moral system down?

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Everything always spreads.

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One of these days you will learn to stop making absolute statements. You know as well as I do that that isn't a true statement.What makes you feel that fundamentalism is a virus or is spreading?

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

By what you`ve been saying in this thread, we all must conclude that you`re agnostic about the tooth fary, santa claus, the easter bunny, the loch ness monster, UFOs, the invisible pink unicorn, the flying spaghetti monster, the one eye on horn flying people eater, and the christian god. If that`s really the most credible, honest, and logic stance, as you say, then I would rather be insane. Edited by fallacycop, : typosEdited by AdminPD, : Warning

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What's the difference between a liberal and religious fundamentalist?

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Usually education.

So, what characterizes all liberals and religious fundamentalists such that they can be considered one and the same?Defining your terms would be welcome.Edited by nator, : No reason given.

*snicker*

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Actually, if their god makes better pancakes, I'm totally switching sides. -- Charley the Australopithecine

So, as one becomes more educated, one also becomes more liberal? Will you back up that that is usually the case?

Not all liberals, just liberals in general. Liberal, conservative, religious fundamentalist, atheist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc. are all systems of morality/beliefs. Agnosticism is the method of logical evaluation of only those things known, with no assumptions, upon which science, truth, and knowledge are built.Jon