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Atheism can't really argue for any less violence since any particular atheistic worldview can justify virtually any act.
atheism can't justify any act since it is a lack of belief. Many atheists are also humanists, if you wish to discuss how humanism is dangerous, go ahead, but I think you'll find you can't. Religion is often used to justify brutal acts of violence towards men all the time. It is simply the ability to take a system of beliefs and bend them to meet your needs.
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. For instance, Jeffrey Dahmer (killed many people, raped men, ate people, etc.), once caught and imprisoned said evolution was the key contributor to his depravity, that if we're just animals, there's nothing wrong with anything, including killing, raping, eating our own kind, since all these things happen in the wild. Makes sense to me from an atheist perspective. He said if he had known God existed at the time he never could have committed those acts because he would have believed in human dignity, inherent human worth.
Dahmer was psychologically disturbed from an early age. At 10, he was abusing animals. He was antisocial, paranoid, and obsessed with pleasing his father. He had severe psychological problems all his life. He also hated homosexuals. To blame atheism and evolution for his actions is absurd. It is very probable that with a religious mindset, these problems could have taken a similar path, albeit with an 'avenging angel' mindset.
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From: Eldon Knoche, "Dahmer Likely To Turn To Religion, Expert Says", in The Milwaukee Sentinel, 17 Febreuary 1992:
Jeffrey Dahmer is likely to turn to religion in prison, but 40 years from now he probably will be psychologically unchanged, psychiatrist Basil Jackson said Sunday.
Though debate has focused on whether the convicted killer should be sent to prison or a mental hospital, "from a psychiatric point of view it doesn't make much difference for Mr. Dahmer," Jackson said. "Even if sent to the best psychiatric treatment, the outlook would not be good."
Jackson, who has counseled jailed televangelist Jim Bakker, among others, was asked for his assessment of how Dahmer will function in incarceration.
"I would anticipate that he would become deeply religious," Jackson said. "There's already signs of that."
"This is a very common method of adaptation in an isolated environment. He has the potential for the quasi-spiritual, as evidenced by the temples. He has been reading the New Testament."
There was testimony at Dahmer's trial about how he had planned to build a temple in his apartment, using skulls of his victims.
Jackson expects Dahmer to adjust well in prison and to "kind of fade into the woodwork. As long as he can have the basic needs satisfied -- cigarettes, reading, radio -- he will vegetate the rest of his life.
Religion has often been used as the 'motivation' of serial killers.
Albert Fish thought god was ordering him to castrate young boys to prevent them from sinning.
Coral Eugene Watts killed women because he thought they had evil spirits.
David Berkowitz thought he was being ordered by the devil to kill.
http://www.dirjournal.com/info/ameri...erial-killers/
Saeed Hanaei killed to eliminate moral corruption.
Is religion to blame? No. Crazy people will be crazy no matter what.
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Of course atheists can believe in human dignity, inherent human worth, it's just not consistent with any worldview they can contrive; there will be a logical disconnect.
This is incorrect. Humanism and philosophical buddhism both uphold human dignity.