surreptitious57 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 8:40 pm
But atheists are not the only ones who steal so that is where your argument fails
Not at all.
I'm talking about what an ideology will rationalize. You're only talking about what people may do in spite of their ideology. But I have already acknowledged the problem of human hypocrisy: we don't always behave with rational consistency.
The difference is this: to be a rationally and morally consistent Theist is, by Theistic account, good. To be a rationally-consistent Atheist is not even required by Atheism, by any account.
Because what justification is there for someone who has a belief system to steal
Plenty.
"I want...", "I can...", "You can't stop me...," "I would be happier if I had...," "Nobody will know..." etc. That's why people do, in fact, steal sometimes, even contrary to their moral ideology.
But Atheism doesn't even allow the implication there's a reason you shouldn't steal. It implies you can if you want.