One could argue that atheism leads to immorality. With no God-given commandments, the atheist pretty much has to make up moral standards as he or she goes along… The philosopher John Locke โ one of the intellectual forebears of American democracy โ once said that atheists can’t ultimately be trusted in their promises and commitments, since they have no ultimate divine authority to whom they must answer.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a California man and his company for allegedly defrauding a church community by claiming his investment successes were an “obvious favor of God.”
David Souza, 53, described by the agency as a former truck driver and handyman, raised more than $1 million from 28 investors tied to a Redding-based church from August 2007 until April 2008 by promising an annual return of more than 150 percent, the SEC said today in a lawsuit filed at federal court in Sacramento.
…He made more than $100,000 in charitable contributions to the Redding church community, about 180 miles north of San Francisco, where he advertised his fund in materials headlined “Where Business Is Moral and the Miraculous Is Routine.” The agency didn’t identify the church by name.
—SEC Sues Man for Defrauding Church Community in Ponzi Scheme
Some respondents associated atheism with illegal behavior, like drug use and prostitution: “that is, with immoral people who threaten respectable community from the lower end of the social hierarchy.”
—Research Finds that Atheists are Most Despised, Most Distrusted Minority
A Liberty University chaplain is facing drug and burglary charges. Last week, a homeowner caught Scott Ray on surveillance video breaking into a home to steal painkillers. Ray, who is the chaplain for the men’s basketball team and the Director of Convocation, is also suspected in other Campbell County break-ins. In 2005 he was arrested and charged with the same thing.
—Liberty University chaplain faces drug and burglary charges
If you want to live a degenerate life, God is your mortal enemy. He represents a lethal danger to your selfishness, greed, lechery and hatred. It is in your interest to despise Him and do whatever you can to rid the universe of His presence. So there are powerful attractions to life in a God-free world.
Murder charges were filed Tuesday against the man accused of swinging a baseball bat in a church in Wheaton, Minn., killing a 14-month-old girl with a blow meant for her father.
…The charges include two counts of both murder and attempted murder because the attack during a prayer service at Thy Kingdom Come World Ministry on Thursday could be viewed as intentional, and it is a different charge when the crime is intended, said Matt Franzese, Traverse County attorney.
…The fight began with a dispute about $20 that Hankins owed Collins as well as a used washer and dryer that the church wanted Collins to give to Hankins’ family.
For this reason, the root of the terrorism that plagues our world is not in any of the monotheistic religions, but is in atheism, and the expression of atheism in our times: ‘Darwinism’ and ‘materialism.’
—The Real Ideological Root of Terrorism: Darwinism and Materialism
A Bolivian-born man clutching a Bible and claiming a divine mission hijacked a plane in Mexico with more than 100 people aboard on Wednesday…
Flores, 44, smuggled a false bomb on board and threatened to blow up the aircraft if he could not warn the president of what he said was an impending earthquake, police said.
“He said he is a minister and that it was a divine revelation that made him carry out this action,” Security Minister Genaro Garcia told reporters.