Atlas Social Issues Poll

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Most religious people are hypocritical
Most religious people are not hypocritical

Surprised you didn't answer that one. It was one of the easiest for me.

I don't think hypocrisy is limited to religious people, so that's why I didn't answer it.  If pressed to, I'd say that yes, most religious people are hypocritical.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Most religious people are hypocritical
Most religious people are not hypocritical

Surprised you didn't answer that one. It was one of the easiest for me.

I don't think hypocrisy is limited to religious people, so that's why I didn't answer it.  If pressed to, I'd say that yes, most religious people are hypocritical.

So you think most people in general are hypocritical? I'd say the opposite, actually. I think many people tend to confuse unwitting inconsistency with deliberate hypocrisy.

[Person Man]

Saudi Arabia has socialism wtf. wtf. wtf. You cannot have socialism under a socialist monarchy, least of one like Saudi-Arabia's monarchy.

Yeah. But they have a lot of "free" stuff in that country.

In a lot of cases they do not, are only applied to certain aspects of society, to be in line with sharia teaching. It is also stupid to characterise socialism like that, rather than a broader political and economic though

Some people on this board literally believe that countries like Sweden are socialist, so this should come as no surprise. I consider Norway to be somewhat socialist however, because the oil wealth is distributed by the government. Am I wrong, Intell?

Norway and Sweeden are in no way socialist. In many ways, the nordic conturies are social democratic, though less so now, than let's say 30 years of back.

Thy are however, due to the welfare state, and programs to look out for one other, do have socialistic aspects, much more than Saudi Arabia, with it's oil billionares, while others live in poverty. It's religious fundamentalism to preserve the economic status-quo, would make it impossible to socialist.

Maybe "large social safety net" would have been more appropriate. What are the dividing line between having a large social safety, being soc dem, being socialist, and being communist? What's truly capitalistic anyways? And of course, there are right-wing political economies that have commonalities with left-wing ones. That's not only common in Fascism or Trumpism but also common in economies transitioning from Feudal Agrianism to Urban Industrialism.

10. Science is more important in most moral questions, to be honest.

I really don't get this, tbh. Science can help you figure out how to best apply a given moral principle to a concrete situation, but it doesn't tell you anything about which moral principles are right and which are wrong.

For me, it's abortion and stem cell research that I mostly apply this to. I'll admit there is some personal input plus the science.

In what way does science inform your opinion on the morality of abortion? I genuinely have a hard time picturing it (especially if you're pro-choice).

I am "pro-choice", but a bit more nuanced on the issue. I think you saw the post in the other thread about the octopus vs the embryo. I argued that the embryo actually does have the potential to develop into a human being, has the same DNA, etc. Plus, we know there is some sense of consciousness, that's where I would put the "dividing line". I don't necessarily see the religious aspect as much.

Well, science can tell you when processes such as fertilization, implantation, heartbeat, brain activity, or sensitivity to pain begin, but it can't tell you which one is morally relevant to the question of abortion. So as I said earlier it's a matter of applying preexisting principles, not defining them.

Yeah. You need science to make good decisions but not to make the decisions for you. That's how we got things like Eugenics and Fascism and we see sort of a post-Darwin use of Spencerism with Econ 101 replacing Bio 101 nowadays by Republicans/Tories/Liberal/whatevers and their global counterparts to justify having the bottom 40% of able-bodied adults being poor or near poor.

[DavidB.]

Animals should not have similar or equal rights as humans    (but humans have a responsibility to treat animals well)

Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are evil   

Islam is a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism (but Muslims aren't necessarily more dangerous or violent than Christians or Jews)

There is objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is wrong, regardless of culture)   

Modern Western values are not superior to other cultures’ values (not necessarily, but some are)

Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is sometimes justifiable

Individual prosperity is determined mostly or exclusively by forces outside yourself (but happiness does not)

I typically sympathize more with police and their families during controversies (this is always my inclination, but depending on the case I may sympathize more with the suspect/victim and/or not at all with the police if they were wrong)

We should favor assimilation over multiculturalism (and closed borders over assimilation)

Most religious people are not hypocritical (actually most religious people are, but so are most non-religious people)

I prefer religion and/or traditions on moral questions   

I’d prefer “socialism” under a religious monarchy (e.g. Saudi Arabian style monarchy)   over “capitalism” under an atheist dictatorship (e.g. Chinese style dictatorship)

NOTA/I don't want to live either in the past or in the future

Members of my political party are not typically more moral than those of other parties

[PresidentSamTilden]

Animals should not have similar or equal rights as humans

Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are not evil   

Islam is not a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism   

There is no objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is right or wrong, depending on culture)   

Modern Western values are not superior to other cultures’ values   

Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is never justifiable   

Individual prosperity is determined mostly or exclusively by forces outside yourself   

I typically sympathize more with alleged suspects and their families during controversies   

We should favor multiculturalism over assimilation   

Most religious people are hypocritical   

I prefer science and/or instinct on moral questions   

Socioeconomic inequality is preferable to total equality   

I’d prefer “capitalism” under an atheist dictatorship (e.g. Chinese style dictatorship)   

I’d rather live sometime in the distant past   

Members of my political party are typically more moral than those of other parties   

[Goldwater]

1. Animals: Deserve some rights, but not equal to humans.
2. Criminals: Situational, voted not evil.
3. Islam: Not inherently more dangerous or violent than other religions.
4. Morality: Objective, people should have basic rights and freedoms regardless of culture.
5. Western Values: While not perfect, modern western values are preferable to any other currently existing ones.
6. Prejudice: Not justifiable, even if it makes sense why certain individuals might hold prejudices views.
7. Prosperity: Lean within control, I guess.
8. Police vs Suspects: Lean police, at least compared to most people I see on the internet.
9. Assimilation vs. Multiculturalism: Lean assimilation.
10: Hypocrisy: Most religious people are hypocritical, though so are most non-religious people.
11. Science vs. Religion: Science, though the two answers are far from mutually exclusive and don't really cover all points of view very well.
12. Equality vs. Inequality: Inequality, the idea that you can make everybody completely equal is insane.
13. Monarchy vs. Dictatorship: The capitalistic atheist dictator, though both are obviously horrible.
14. Future vs. Past: Lean future, mostly becasue I'm skeptical of the idea that the past was so great.
15. Political Party: I don't think the member of any mainstream political party are inherently more or less moral than anybody else.

[Derpist]

Animals should have similar or equal rights as humans
Animals should not have similar or equal rights as humans
Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are evil
Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are not evil
Islam is a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism
Islam is not a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism
There is objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is wrong, regardless of culture)
There is no objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is right or wrong, depending on culture)
Modern Western values are superior to other cultures’ values
Modern Western values are not superior to other cultures’ values
Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is sometimes justifiable
Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is never justifiable
Individual prosperity is determined mostly or exclusively by forces within yourself
Individual prosperity is determined mostly or exclusively by forces outside yourself
I typically sympathize more with police and their families during controversies
I typically sympathize more with alleged suspects and their families during controversies
We should favor multiculturalism over assimilation
We should favor assimilation over multiculturalism
Most religious people are hypocritical
Most religious people are not hypocritical
I prefer science and/or instinct on moral questions
I prefer religion and/or traditions on moral questions
Socioeconomic inequality is preferable to total equality
Total equality is preferable to socioeconomic inequality
I’d prefer “socialism” under a religious monarchy (e.g. Saudi Arabian style monarchy)
I’d prefer “capitalism” under an atheist dictatorship (e.g. Chinese style dictatorship)
I’d rather live sometime in the distant future
I’d rather live sometime in the distant past
Members of my political party are typically more moral than those of other parties
Members of my political party are not typically more moral than those of other parties

[morgieb]

1. Ideally this should happen, but I don't think it's really feasiable in the modern world. And if forced to choose, in my eyes a human's life is more important than an animal's one.
2. Individuals who commit violent crimes are not necessarily evil, yes. Saying all criminals are evil is much too broad for my tastes.
3. Islam is not inherently more violent than other religions, but some interpretations are more violent which has caused a lot of the problems.
4. Tricky one. Depends on the issue, stuff like murder mostly violates common morality regardless of the culture, but some more minor things that we would consider moral/immoral may vary from culture to culture.
5. Not inherently superior, anyway.
6. Prejudice is pretty much always wrong.
7. For the most part our prosperity is significantly affected by factors outside our control. It can differ, though.
8. Didn't vote as it depends on the circumstances.
9. Depends on the country. In an American context I think multiculturalism is more desirable as its "culture" is mostly a mix of other cultures, and in any case I find cultural diversity something worth celebrating. Could differ in a country with a more "defined" culture, though.
10. Religious people are not inherently hypocritical, at least not more so than irreligious people.
11. Tough to answer. But as I'm not religious or much of a traditionalist, I lean towards science/instinct. Can vary depending on the question, though.
12. Total equality is nice but probably unfeasiable. Most societies with "total equality" tend to be hellholes. That said, I think closing the gap between inequality is a crucial issue.
13. Not a great question, but if forced to choose, I'd go for the atheist option.
14. The distant past (like anything before about 1950 or whatever) does not seem a great place to live. We don't know with the future, and it would be cool to find out (if humanity still exists at that point)
15. Political parties and philosophies do not inherently make someone more moral than someone else, much as I like to joke about it.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Animals should not have similar or equal rights as humans-obvious choice.

Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are not evil- some are, some aren't.

Islam is not a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism- today Islamic terrorism is the worst of any reigion, but for example the Muslims in Iberia were ×1000 better than the Christians.

There is no objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is right or wrong, depending on culture)- there isn't, but...

Modern Western values are superior to other cultures’ values- we also must fight for liberalism, equal rights and human rights which are superior for humans in every way. Yes, it doesn't siund pretty, but western values ARE superior.

Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is never justifiable- Prejudice is bad.

Individual prosperity is determined primarily or exclusively by forces within yourself- in the end, the way YOU feels decides.

I typically sympathize more with police and their families during controversies- depends, but mostly yeah.

We should favor multiculturalism over assimilation- multiculturalism is beautiful.

Most religious people are hypocritical- sorry, but you can't ve Christian, eat pork and not be SOMEWHAT hypocritical.

I prefer science and instinct on moral questions- I generally dislike laws from a barbaric, ancient age.

Socioeconomic inequality is preferable to total equality- you can't erase the individual

I’d prefer “capitalism” under an atheist dictatorship (e.g. Chinese style dictatorship)- at least I don't get beheaded for being gay.

I’d rather live sometime in the distant future- lean this, since I'm moderately optimistic.

Members of my political party are not typically more moral than those of other parties- nah

[White Trash]

How is it hypocritical for a Christian to eat pork? Mark 7:18 and 7:19 do away with the concept of Biblical "unclean" foods.

[Cashew]

Animals should not have similar or equal rights as humans    -They should be treated with equal respect however   

Individuals who commit violent crimes (e.g. murder) are evil -circumstantial       

Islam is a more dangerous and violent religion than Christianity or Judaism       

There is objective morality (e.g. cannibalism is wrong, regardless of culture)       

Modern Western values are superior to other cultures’ values - depends what kind of "west" you are talking about   

Prejudice based on race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, religion, etc. is sometimes justifiable- the hardest one for me, It's nice to be principled and treat everybody like individuals, but profiling works, I won't blame individuals for using it.       

Individual prosperity is determined mostly or exclusively by forces outside yourself       

I typically sympathize more with alleged suspects and their families during controversies       

We should favor assimilation over multiculturalism       

Most religious people are not hypocritical - not unique to religious people   

I prefer religion and/or traditions on moral questions       

Socioeconomic inequality is preferable to total equality       

I’d prefer “socialism” under a religious monarchy (e.g. Saudi Arabian style monarchy)       

I’d rather live sometime in the distant past       

Members of my political party are not typically more moral than those of other parties