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A question to all atheists

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People are saying morality is subjective to the individual and completely irrelevant to atheism as a whole. I agree but I think it's a pointless statement to make. The OP asks opinions from individuals of a particular group (maybe not an actual group but you get what I mean).

You can still answer the question from your own personal moral grounds if you are atheist. Though, I've yet to see a suitable justification to those who say "it's wrong". In this situation, the whole "if two people love each other, why not?" doesn't seem to be compatible.
Original post by Tawheed
Is a 25 year old son, who fully consents to engage in sexual activity with his 55 year old father, according to your idea of morality, acceptable?


Whilst this has nothing to do with being an atheist or not, I do not find this morally acceptable nor do I think anyone civilised would. That said, to each their own.
[QUOTE="Anonymous;64770915"]Incest isn't exactly "absolutely wrong", if Allah was to permit it and it seems that he did permit incest in relation to the children of "Adam and Eve"...

"...Regarding the question you have asked, it is a known fact that legislation differs from one Shari'ah to another, while the principles and beliefs remain the same in all of them...

"...In a similar way, marriage between brothers and sisters was permitted in the Shari'ah of Adam (peace be upon him) as opposed to those that came afterwards. The following is a clarification on the issue by Haafidh Ibn Katheer, who said: Allaah allowed Adam (peace be upon him) to marry his daughters to his sons for necessity. Every couple used to have a boy and a girl. Hence, he married the girl of one couple to the boy of another..."

https://islamqa.info/en/255


Furthermore, Muslim majority countries seem to have highest rates consanguinity, than compared to other non-muslim majority states, primarily attributed to inbreeding via cousin marriages, which is permitted in Islam and widely practiced...

http://www.consang.net/index.php/Summary

Spoiler



Yeah... the thread has nothing to do with Islam or any religion. Pointless post. Whataboutery.
Original post by Tawheed
Is a 25 year old son, who fully consents to engage in sexual activity with his 55 year old father, according to your idea of morality, acceptable?



I am not homophobic however, I do believe there is a line - I do not think incest is correct, whether is it straight or gay etc. (I hope I am interpreting the question right.) It is up to you to make the judgement but for me-
man and man = fine
woman and woman = fine
woman and man = fine
close family member and close family member = something to definitely thing about and I would not consider this fine.
Original post by eve_4342
I am not homophobic however, I do believe there is a line - I do not think incest is correct, whether is it straight or gay etc. (I hope I am interpreting the question right.) It is up to you to make the judgement but for me-
man and man = fine
woman and woman = fine
woman and man = fine
close family member and close family member = something to definitely thing about and I would not consider this fine.


Original post by geolowiser
Whilst this has nothing to do with being an atheist or not, I do not find this morally acceptable nor do I think anyone civilised would. That said, to each their own.


Reasons? :smile:
Original post by eve_4342
I am not homophobic however, I do believe there is a line - I do not think incest is correct, whether is it straight or gay etc. (I hope I am interpreting the question right.) It is up to you to make the judgement but for me-
man and man = fine
woman and woman = fine
woman and man = fine
close family member and close family member = something to definitely thing about and I would not consider this fine.


Why? Does this not follow the same rules as homosexuality?
Original post by champ_mc99
People are saying morality is subjective to the individual and completely irrelevant to atheism as a whole. I agree but I think it's a pointless statement to make. The OP asks opinions from individuals of a particular group (maybe not an actual group but you get what I mean).


The OP has specifically asked myself and others to say what we think, 'as an atheist.' All people are saying here is that their view on this has zero relevance to their lack of belief in gods (further proven by there being no clear consensus among the atheists who've posted their views thus far). He might as well be asking me what my view on this is, 'as a person who shops at Tesco.'

It's a pointless statement in its own right, but not so in response to an OP whose clear intention it is to try to discredit atheism by associating it with tolerant views of a socially taboo practice.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by champ_mc99
Reasons? :smile:


If referring to relevance to being an atheist or not, the lack of faith in a deity does not drive one or result in incest, unsure why OP made that leap.

If referring to it being morally acceptable (and ignoring the ill-thought out connection to atheism), incest has major social stigma attached, and the violation of that boundary whether consensual or not can lead to severe psychological issues and social rejection. I don't think it is an outraegeous assumption to think that anyone who engages in sexual activity with their own sons/daughters has mental health issues. Psychological scarring and social exclusion aside, morals are largely defined by your country and not religion for most countries in the world. Even in religious states, having worked and lived in both of these countries I feel comfortable stating that I think that Saudi Arabia is an incredibley immoral place in some situations, whereas Abu Dhabi seems to be much better yet is still an Islamic state.

Demographics, tribal and cultural traditions, as well as religion come in to play, but I think it is quite short-sighted to question to morals of atheists based on their lack of faith, when many morally abhorent views exist within institutionalised religions - even though those parts of the religion are frequently ignored.

Whilst I have no desire to get into a debate about morals in religion (my tea will get cold and I don't have the energy to put the thought into it), I don't think that religion should be used as a marker. Different generations within the same family and faith can have wildly different moral stances and benchmarks for what is morally acceptable (votes for women, gay marriage, can I throw stones at a stray dog etc).
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Zargabaath
Why?

inb4 morally wrong. Why is it?


Degrades Society.
The question is odd and seems to stem from some expectancy of homogeny of belief within atheism but there sort of isnt. There isn't a unify book as their is within Islam or most other religions in general.

To answer no I would not be okay with it.
Original post by donutellme
Why? Does this not follow the same rules as homosexuality?


is this a serious question?
Original post by champ_mc99
Reasons? :smile:


It's like me getting it on with my mum- no no no no no no no no no no no!
However each to their own! I couldn't "perform" incest and I just think there are some boundaries and incest crosses it.
LOL! I'm no way an atheist but this thread and its comments are hilarious :tongue:
One more point - by definition atheists have a lack of faith, there is no binding union or collective moral. The morals of atheists are governed by social norms in their local environment and media exposure, social pressures etc. If they grow up being told that to persecute someone for feeling a certain way is wrong (the opposite of being told how to feel about a specific feeling) that is most likely going to be their moral stance, instead of have their morals documented and defined for them. If anything, my contention is that atheists have the freedom to be morally superior as they are not governed by an existing text created well before this time. PLEASE understand that I do not think atheists are morally superior, only that they have the FREEDOM to be. For the the choice exists to accept or deny a particular moral stance, whereas by nature to deny a moral stance of a religion is to deny the religion itself. I have no hate or disrespect for religion, but people need to understand that atheists are not bound by anything like religious people are. You cannot compare christians and atheists or jews and atheists, it's like comparing muslims and people who enjoy rollercoasters, their single unifying trait has no bearing on their lives, it's a lack of faith alone.
Original post by geolowiser
One more point - by definition atheists have a lack of faith, there is no binding union or collective moral. The morals of atheists are governed by social norms in their local environment and media exposure, social pressures etc. If they grow up being told that to persecute someone for feeling a certain way is wrong (the opposite of being told how to feel about a specific feeling) that is most likely going to be their moral stance, instead of have their morals documented and defined for them. If anything, my contention is that atheists have the freedom to be morally superior as they are not governed by an existing text created well before this time. PLEASE understand that I do not think atheists are morally superior, only that they have the FREEDOM to be. For the the choice exists to accept or deny a particular moral stance, whereas by nature to deny a moral stance of a religion is to deny the religion itself. I have no hate or disrespect for religion, but people need to understand that atheists are not bound by anything like religious people are. You cannot compare christians and atheists or jews and atheists, it's like comparing muslims and people who enjoy rollercoasters, their single unifying trait has no bearing on their lives, it's a lack of faith alone.


FYI OP the reason I didn't answer your questions properly is that I think it is quite a naive thought process.
Original post by TSR Mustafa
is this a serious question?


Yes. Two consenting adults? Not harming anyone? I really don't see why someone can't support this if they support homosexuality.
I'm not certain whether I'd call myself an atheist, but I'm not a theist.

I don't "believe in morality" (I would agree with theories like Emotivism which suggest moral statements are just expressions of emotions) so I don't call this morally acceptable or unacceptable. I personally find it a bit weird, but alas I do not particularly care.
Original post by Tawheed
Do you believe it is morally acceptable for a consenting , and informed consenting 25 yer old son to have sex with his 55 year old informed consenting father, as an atheist?

You're really in need of approval today.
Original post by Tawheed
Is a 25 year old son, who fully consents to engage in sexual activity with his 55 year old father, according to your idea of morality, acceptable?

and this proves of a God how exactly?
Original post by champ_mc99
Yeah... the thread has nothing to do with Islam or any religion. Pointless post. Whataboutery.


Clearly it does, it is addressed to atheists and as such is geared towards people without faith. People might not be focusing on the original question but that's only because it wasn't thought through. The post with the consanguinuity map is interesting because it shows a proxy for incestuous relationships across almost all islamic states. So the nature of the question, in which the morality of atheists is called into question, as if atheists having a unifying code of morality. The premise of the question is flawed and I think it's entirely reasonable to debate the question's vaildity.
(edited 7 years ago)

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