Persuasion speech 8 min long
Thesis Statement: Church is not needed to create morals and values in society.
- where does worth come from.: events, sports, common interest gatherings
- common morals and values: safety, freedom, love, connection, community
- people can still have morals and values without having to go to church.
introduction
America is getting less religious than previous generations. The current generation, labeled Millennials, are letting go of religious dogma in favor of guiding their lives with common morals and values.
“The so-called millennials (Americans born between 1982 and 2000) are far more diverse, educated and tolerant than their predecessors. They’re also the least religious generation in American history – they’re even getting less religious as they get older, which is unprecedented – and the majority of them identify Christianity as synonymous with harsh political conservatism”. (Times News)
“As older, more religious generations fade away and younger generations replace them, the societal midpoint shifts. And this trend is going to accelerate in coming years, because the millennial generation is big. They’re even bigger than the baby boomers.” (Times News)
Leaving religion behind is showing a shift from conservatism to liberalism. one's epistemology does not come from being labeled and being boxed in but from experiencing life. this expands one’s thinking and creativity.
#1 self worth
Self worth comes from seeing one's own accomplishments being achieved. the present generation gives self worth to having more diversity in careers. this means that they have involvement in more than one career and have multiple skill set that can be utilized.
helping others is another key aspect in gaining self worth. the current generation is not worried about getting head by themselves but wants to bring everybody along with them as well.
#2: common morals
The growing generation, millennials, are not necessarily atheist, nor against God. Instead, they place value and judgement on laws of justice. They scrutinize laws, politicians, etc through the common values and morality of humanity. They want everything to be fair across the board.
“in the state of nature “[t]he notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law: where no law, no injustice.” But no atheist has to agree with this account of morality, and lots of us do not. We “moralistic atheists” do not see right and wrong as artifacts of a divine protection racket. Rather, we find moral value to be immanent in the natural world, arising from the vulnerabilities of sentient beings and from the capacities of rational beings to recognize and to respond to those vulnerabilities and capacities in others.”
#3: morals/values without church
churches are not held up on a pedestal any longer. everything and everyone is and should be questioned.
“the [churches] can no longer claim to be the sole source of morality and virtue, nor can they expect to assert their will in political matters and be obeyed without question. Instead, they’ll have to muster evidence and make their case in the marketplace of ideas like everyone else.”
Everyone, regardless of church membership, is an equal in the political platform and equal in opinion of morals and virtues.
looking at the argument, examining the facts rationally and not through emotions, brings us to the “...consequences of pinning morality to the existence of God. Consider the following moral judgments”
• It is wrong to drive people from their homes or to kill them because you want their land.
• It is wrong to enslave people.
• It is wrong to torture prisoners of war.
• Anyone who witnesses genocide, or enslavement, or torture, is morally required
to try to stop it.
These are the same moral actions that our forefathers have taken in the name of religion.
“To say that morality depends on the existence of God is to say that none of these specific moral judgments is true unless God exists. If God turned out not to exist — then slavery would be O.K.? There’d be nothing wrong with torture? The pain of another human being would mean nothing?” (New York Times)
conclusion:
“Things don’t become morally valuable because God prefers them; God prefers them because they are morally valuable.”
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