[MD] Dawkins a Materialist (is watching?)

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
Sorry. I'm not a biblical scholar. However, if you read what the 
Founding Fathers wrote, I think you'll find many references to God 
and the Christian heritage.

[Arlo]
Just because they say "God" once or twice does not mean that what 
they propose was based in "Christian ethics". But since you can't 
find any support that any of the "rights" granted to us by the 
Constitution derive from "Christian ethics", I stand by my claim that 
they "derive" from enlightenment reason.

[Platt previously]
"Belief" is not a prerequisite for an individual to have the rights 
to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

[Arlo then]
Can you give me _ANY_ Biblical quote or passage to support this? 
Why,  if this is a "Christian ethic", did the Founders permit slavery?

[Platt]
Slavery was ended by those who believed in the Christian ethic.

[Arlo]
Slavery was ended because of humanist reasoning. If it was "Christian 
ethics", then why did the "Founders" permit slavery, when you argue 
that they based what they did on this ethic?

[Platt]
The right to life precludes beheadings and wholesale slaughter.

[Arlo]
As it does in Humanist Reason. By submitting to your "right to life", 
I guarantee my own. It is a superior social contract that allows 
maximum freedom (and DQ) for all involved. No God needed.

[Arlo previously]
And let's talk some more about "Christian ethics". What about the 
primary message of Christ (other than accepting Him as Savior)? This 
could easily be restated "Feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, heal 
the sick". Would you suggest our laws be based on these? Or, again, 
do you pick and choose "Christian ethics" as it gives you power over 
others, dismissing those ethics that would cause you to sacrifice?

[Platt]
Those are all good things to do provided you don't force others to do them...

[Arlo]
Why do you then force other aspects of Christian ethics on people?

[Platt]
... and make recepients dependent on them, i.e., teach a man to fish.

[Arlo]
Where did Jesus say not to provide shelter for people in a way that 
makes them dependent? Where did he say not to give hungry people food 
lest they become dependent? Teach a man to fish, sure, but don't stop 
feeding him in the meantime. Same with healthcare.

[Platt]
Jesus said something about render unto Caesar the things that are 
his, and unto God the things that are His, or words to that effect. 
Jesus was anything but Marx.

[Arlo]
Jesus said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a 
needle than a rich man to enter Heaven. Jesus was, indeed, a Marxist. 
Feed the poor, heal the sick, shelter the homeless, renounce material 
pleasures (notice how all his disciples gave away all their possessions?).

[Platt]
You'll not there is nothing in the Declaration or the Constitution 
about rights that have to be provided by the forced labor of others 
such as food, shelter and health care.

[Arlo]
Right, because they are not based on the Christian ethic.