I don't care if you're a Christian, people are turning on every religion there is out there, it doesn't really mean atheism supports 'the horrors of absolute selfishness'.

Well since we're already there, as soon as we finish wiping out Islamic Fundamentalism, can we get the Christians next? We'll mostly appease the Fundamentalist Jews by wiping out the Muslims, so they won't be a problem. I want to hang Fred Phelps scrotum from the hitch on my truck. And I want his daughter's tits nailed to my door lintel.

I don't care if you're a Christian, people are turning on every religion there is out there, it doesn't really mean atheism supports 'the horrors of absolute selfishness'.

NO, no it does not!  (Sorry about that, 'cuz that's not what i meant, at all.)

Truly DO read that:  Actual Ethical Standards, okay?  With the understanding that ANYONE can have 'em!   

i don't give a rat's banana WHO you are, you DO NOT "deserve" to make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year.

But, imho, when we chose to turn our backs, as a society, on God and Godly principles, we opened the door to the horrors of absolute selfishness.

Let's say for instance I am the only producer of a very widely desired, safe product. There are no other producers of this product. Say I sold this product for a penny, and that covered all the costs in production and shipping, and a small amount for my labour. Say this product generated millions upon millions of dollars a year. Would I not be entitled to keep some of those millions of dollars a year through my labour in producing this product?

Also, I was never religious, and I live by a very strict moral code. I dont need some bastardised text written thousands of years ago to instruct me how to live morally. The way I see it, God and his Godly principles are what has caused most of the wars of the last 2000 years. And any society that is governed by theocracy is soon to be a society in decline.

Let's say for instance I am the only producer of a very widely desired, safe product. There are no other producers of this product. Say I sold this product for a penny, and that covered all the costs in production and shipping, and a small amount for my labour. Say this product generated millions upon millions of dollars a year. Would I not be entitled to keep some of those millions of dollars a year through my labour in producing this product?

Also, I was never religious, and I live by a very strict moral code. I dont need some bastardised text written thousands of years ago to instruct me how to live morally. The way I see it, God and his Godly principles are what has caused most of the wars of the last 2000 years. And any society that is governed by theocracy is soon to be a society in decline.

Oh, sorry ~ guess i should have elaborated:  "you DO NOT "deserve" to make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year"

while your workers and their families struggle to get by, nor while you blatantly RIP OFF the public to make said millions.

If you're producing something that you can gross a 15 - 25% profit from,

and you "share the wealth" by using a percentage scale for different pay grades,

you wouldn't be HAVING millions left over, as it were, and EVERYONE associated with your biz would be well served.

For the second part of your post:

Isn't that a LOT like blaming the GUN for the murder, instead of the person holding it? ...

No, the key part was "I dont need some bastardised text written thousands of years ago to instruct me how to live morally."

If you read a little history, people have used God & Godly principles to perpetrate countless atrocities through the ages. These people must have only done so believing that they have a divine right to slaughter people who dont follow the same religion. That's not the same as saying a gun killed someone, no one ever feels that they derive a divine right from a firearm. Believe what you will, if you get something from religion, then great, but dont believe your God is any better than the Muslim God, or Jewish God, or anyone elses God. Since the existence (and non-existence) of any deity has not been proved, it seems pointless to me to take the word of some dude who sat on top of a mountain as the word of God.

i don't give a rat's banana WHO you are, you DO NOT "deserve" to make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year.

But, imho, when we chose to turn our backs, as a society, on God and Godly principles, we opened the door to the horrors of absolute selfishness.

Let's say for instance I am the only producer of a very widely desired, safe product. There are no other producers of this product. Say I sold this product for a penny, and that covered all the costs in production and shipping, and a small amount for my labour. Say this product generated millions upon millions of dollars a year. Would I not be entitled to keep some of those millions of dollars a year through my labour in producing this product?

I think the way to deal with outrageous salaries on the parts of some individuals in society is for the government to start doing what they should have been doing all along - busting monopolies and enforcing regulation.  Nobody on Wall Street would get a $100,000,000 bonus if the government simply did its job of regulating markets and not allowing firms to grow to be behemoths with disproportionate ability to influence/manipulate the markets in which they are involved.

We also shouldn't grant corporations the same rights as individuals and allow them to legally bribe elected officials.

I also think it's really important to have a progressive tax structure to mitigate economic disparity to some degree (one of the many reasons I support a progressive tax structure). 

We need common sense governance, not more regulation.

I don't think existing markets need more regulation than what was on the books.  I didn't mean to imply that (well, I'd bring back things like Glass-Steagall).

What regulation we do have should have been enforced.  Firms shouldn't be allowed to shop for their regulator of choice, to find the body that is going to be the most lenient in providing oversight.  Rating agencies should be truly independent. 

Novel "financial instruments" should be carefully examined.  It seems to me that a lot of what went on to create the current economic crisis was essentially fraud.  But since people were making money and the government (no matter which party has been in power) doesn't really want to address the cracks that are showing in the US economy, it was easy for people to turn a blind eye until it blew up.

No, the key part was "I dont need some bastardised text written thousands of years ago to instruct me how to live morally."

If you read a little history, people have used God & Godly principles to perpetrate countless atrocities through the ages. These people must have only done so believing that they have a divine right to slaughter people who dont follow the same religion. That's not the same as saying a gun killed someone, no one ever feels that they derive a divine right from a firearm. Believe what you will, if you get something from religion, then great, but dont believe your God is any better than the Muslim God, or Jewish God, or anyone elses God. Since the existence (and non-existence) of any deity has not been proved, it seems pointless to me to take the word of some dude who sat on top of a mountain as the word of God.

This is going to sound so crass, but

that ain't me, pal.

Anyone one with ONE brain cell realizes that you can't "Teach Someone A Lesson" by KILLING them.  

Well, that, and the fact that you lose a LOT of credibility along the way.

You folks are thinking of God and religion in a Past Tense, and if you just listened for a little,

you'd see, hear and KNOW that those types of atrocities could NEVER be tolerated, again,

not by ANY God-fearing person.

(And the "fear" word, there?  Refers to absolute AWE, not afraidness.)

Go to a non-denouminational church; listen to some Christian radio; dare to tune in on some Christian Broadcasting.

You can tell the hucksters from the real folks.

IF you'd like some recommendations, i would be honored to oblige; however, i will NEVER try to shove my philosophy down your throat.

If i've never understood anything ELSE in my life,

i can rest-assure you that i understand the meaning of:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't MAKE him drink.

Why would a God who is all about love need to be feared, or held in awe?

Key words from my post: "if you get something from religion, then great"... I aint about telling people of faith they are wrong, but at the same time, I dont want people of faith telling me that I'm wrong. They dont get any say in how I live my life, just the same as I dont get any say in how they live theirs.

As far as atrocities in the name of God not being tolerated, I think there are still an awful lot of people out there who didnt get the memo.

Why would a God who is all about love need to be feared, or held in awe?

Key words from my post: "if you get something from religion, then great"... I aint about telling people of faith they are wrong, but at the same time, I dont want people of faith telling me that I'm wrong. They dont get any say in how I live my life, just the same as I dont get any say in how they live theirs.

As far as atrocities in the name of God not being tolerated, I think there are still an awful lot of people out there who didnt get the memo.

He doesn't "need" to be held in awe ~ it's just that when you start realizing who He is and what He did, you discover that He's pretty aweSOME.

Oh, those folks GOT the memo ~ they just decided to ignore it.  But if you look at the rest of the world, everyone is up in arms over the sitch in the Middle East, which is a Holy War, and i don't see too many peeps saying "Yeah, we believe in THIS religion, so we've got to be on their God's side in this!" ~ most folks are saying:  WTF???  This flippin' KILLING over who's God is THE God has GOT to stop!