neither, i dont think its possible to judge ethics if you're comparing apples to oranges. for theists, it seems like ethics is written for them to follow. and also atheists aren't necessarily ethical either.
lol. i don't really like people using the term Atheist for people who doesn't believe in god or any classification terms for them, cause won't that be like placing them in a seperate religious group, its kind of like they have to believe in god or else they would be called Atheist. why can't they just don't believe in god and not be called "Atheist" or anything. Its kind of like someone who just doesn't eat something you eat and you just call them something you that.
well theist is just believing in religion so its not like its just god, its just not believing in a religion whether it be buddhist or christian, catholic, islamic, muslim ,etc.
wow my thread got bumped and it's like a year old =p I guess the Atheists is more ethical... in terms of my own personal opinion, i would also say the Atheist since they're doing it b/c they believe is the right thing to do
Well, that's just stereotyping... I have to agree in terms of a person God fearing this, and God fearing that, and thinks that he'll go to Hell if he commits unethical deeds. But then, I am a Buddhist, and I do things out of my own will, and not because I fear God or fear that I'll be sent to Hell (becoz I don't believe in Hell). I do things based on my own ethics, while my beliefs are guidelines to me. Guidelines, NOT rules. So it's up to me if I wanna follow or not. Having said that, I don't think I am doing things because I fear a higher punishment. I just believe it is the right thing to do. If I believe it's sth I have done wrong, I don't pray to God for forgiveness. I go ask the person I did the wrong thing to for forgiveness I just blame myself and hope that I'll do it right the next time.
Well, we already established the fact that being ethical is not a trait exclusive to either theist and non-theist (not atheist, because non-theist encompasses BOTH atheists and agonists, along with some lesser known groups) So I guess I maintains that if a person do an ethical deed, I would value him more highly if he is a non-theist because he didn't do it out of fear of retributions from God. Thus non-theist it is.
