Morality and atheism by Irfan Husain (DAWN)

Morality and atheism Irfan Husain (Feb 17)
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/12-morality-and-atheism-in-an-uncertain-world-720--bi-05


Here are some letters published in Dawn
Western values and us (Ali A. Rizvi Feb 21)
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/western-values-and-us-120

Liberal debate (Salamat Haqui Feb 25)i
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/liberal-debate-520

Morality and atheism (I.Z. Mankani, March 2)
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/morality-and-atheism-230



Morality and atheism (Syed Rizvi , March 4)
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/morality-and-atheism-430


The above article was also reproduced on NewAgeIslam

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=2481

And here are the comments that appeared on theNewAgeIslam Website

Ghulam Mohiyuddin 2/24/2010 12:21:35 PM
This is indeed a very well written and thought provoking article. I am surprised however that Dawn had the courage to publish it.

Syed Rizvi 2/21/2010 11:48:33 PM
Moral action doesn't necessarily make one moral.
If a person acts morally because of reward/ punishment in the next world he/she is acting as a moral person with a self interest. Such morality cannot be seen as moral in the true meaning of the word.
A person who acts morally without any belief for reward/punishment in the next world is truly moral in my dictionary.
Syed Rizvi
San Jose. California

Sultan Shahin 2/21/2010 10:04:24 PM
Thanks Mr. Ashok Sharma for sharing this item with us: Atheist nations are more peaceful. I am a religious person and I found It most thought-provoking. I hope other readers too are provoked to reflect on this information.

Ashok Sharma 2/21/2010 9:39:13 PM
I found an article on the web which I wanted to share:
Atheist nations are more peaceful
The 2009 Global Peace Index has just been released. It's basically a ranking of how turbulent and warlike a country is.
They put it together by assessing 23 criteria, including foreign wars, internal conflicts, respect for human rights, the number of murders, the number of people in jail, the arms trade, and degrees of democracy (Guardian).
You can see a world map of peace at the Vision of Humanity website, and also take a look at country rankings for 2009, as well as earlier years.
New Zealand came top this year. Hmm, New Zealand is a pretty non-religious country. In fact, if you eyeball the rankings, the top few countries are all pretty non-religious.
What I've done in the figures here is to take data from the World Values Survey on the percentage of people in each country who say they are a committed atheist, and also on the percentage of people who say that they go to a religious service at least once a month.
Then I split the sample into two equal groups, based on their score on the Global Peace Index. The ones in the 'Peaceful' group are countries with a GPI score less than 1.8.
Sure enough, peaceful countries have more atheists and fewer regular worshippers. The difference is highly statistically significant (P=0.001 or less) - in other words it's real, not just a chance finding.
Now, there are several possible reasons for this. It could be that people living in turbulent countries turn to religion, or it could be that religion is not a good way to structure modern society. Or it could be that some other factor or combination of factors (democracy? free speech? education? government welfare?) generates citizens who are both peaceful and non-religious.
Whatever, it's another blow to the idea that secularization leads to social meltdown. Atheist countries are, in fact more peaceful.

Syed Rizvi (San Jose, CA) 2/21/2010 10:01:51 AM
I was pleasantly surprised to see a column on Morality and Atheism by Mr. Irfan Husain, in Dawn – a major paper published in Pakistan, which is considered a deeply religious country. Dawn was founded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, called 'Father of the Nation', who himself was secular, with a secular aspiration for Pakistan. Unfortunately, soon after his death the political tide turned toward the Islamization of Pakistan, eventually producing the religious extremism we see today.
An article such as Mr. Irfan’s, where the free flow of ideas can be entertained and healthy dialogue between believers and non-believers can be sustained, is in my judgment a sign of a more wholesome and tolerant society of the kind Jinnah had in mind.
In the west, dialogue on Morality and Religion is not uncommon. For example, the recent interview with author Sam Harris on the subject of morality at TED (ww.ted.com), may interest some of the readers on this site. It may be found at:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2010/02/12/sam-harris-picks-a-fight-with-god/
Syed Rizvi
San Jose, California