After quite a bit of introspection and uncertainty, I considered the following question:
Would I rather have theists (not to suggest by any means they all do, but SOME certainly do) that behave in a good and moral fashion simply because they are afraid of going to Hell or desirous of going to Heaven, who otherwise are just nasty people at heart?
Or would I rather have atheists (not to suggest by any means they all do, but SOME certainly do) that behave in an aberrant, malicious, destructive, cruel, even truly evil fashion simply because they believe that there is no Heaven or Hell, or anything of the sort, that when you die…that’s it. And who believe, therefore, since there’s no “incentive” for positive behavior and no “disincentive” for negative behavior, they might as well just do whatever the heck they want, whatever makes them happy, regardless of how it affects anyone else, being constrained only by their fear of consequences/laws/etc?
And that’s like asking if I prefer fascism or anarchism.
Fascism is the ultra-far-right: All security, no freedom.
Pure Anarchism (There are degrees, I know, but I’m talking about PURE Anarchism) is the ultra-far-left: All freedom, no security.
And my answer to that question would be…do I really have to pick one?