No problem. I'll pay attention next time... I'm new to this forum so I'm just gettin the hang of it... Thank you for the tip! Let me repost it without the highlights...

Ladies and gentlemen I would like you all to know that I’m starting this post off by first confessing I am a theist and wish to pass a new form of wisdom with no threat of indoctrination.

First of all let me clear the air by stating that most Theists do not think you lack morality. Here are the moral virtues that all of you naturally possess.

Integrity- Includes all spectrums of truthfulness and Justice

Empathy- includes all levels of compassion and understanding

Loyalty- Includes all levels of friendship and trust

Fairness- Includes all levels of equality and reciprocity

Gratitude- Includes all levels of Thankfulness and humility

Respect- includes all courteousness

Responsibility- Includes all levels of Honor and Valor

Resourcefulness- The many levels of tact and wisdom

Reverence- The respect of all life including your own

Unity- Closer connections with all living things

Kindness- All types of loving relationships with all mankind

Hope- The clearest view of optimism

________________________________________________________________________

Theists have but one thing that Atheists choose not to follow. They connect these virtues to an all-encompassing concept. I’ll provide and explain it and you can feel free to not believe it, because it’s your choice and you have the freedom to toss it aside, but at least try to understand it when you prepare for religious debate. Otherwise it sounds like a pointless argument because theists know that you have the moral virtues listed above so we don’t argue about that, we argue about the lack of understanding of the following concepts that the majority of THEISTS (not atheists) believe also exist. AND READ THE EXPLANATIONS BEFORE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS PLEASE. I don’t want to start an argument based on false premises

  The Big ‘ole Missing Concept

Purity- The freedom from defilement that comes from a perceived taint or evil in our world

 Whether it’s caused by perceived ignorance (Vedic schools of thought and Buddhism & Jainism), Devils (Abrahamic faiths: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity), Uncleanliness of body and spirit (Shintoism and some pagan schools of thought), Turbulence against the way of nature (Daoism), disconnection with the world around you (Most pagan schools of thought), or in some cases just downright lack of discipline (Confucianism) This perceived taint is characterized in religion as the main cause of all misery in the world.

It is perceived that from this taint all conflicts come before us and the best medicine to treat this taint is religion. All religions are different in how they treat this perceived taint and most Abrahamic faiths ask you to turn to God as the treatment, as a way to remove this said taint. The Vedic schools of thought look for introspection and wisdom-seeking (Buddhism and Jainism) and duty (Hinduism). The Shintoists and some Pagan schools of thought require ceremonial purification, prayer, and some exorcism. Daoism seeks to restore a persons flow into the Dao, or way, of nature. Most pagan schools of thought prescribe a reconnection to the natural world around you through many gods (which sometimes are merely used as archetypes and not real physical beings and sometimes not) Confucianism looks to the specific Confucian moral code of law.               

Once this taint is removed from the being they become the pure human that they seek to become.

This often begs the question: If the above is true, then why do so many Theists commit acts of horrid inhumane indecency?

My answer is that they haven’t truly purified themselves to their whole potential and blame others and their own faith in response for their own perceived failures. My reason for this answer is that most of these terrorists seek to encompass their hatred for the “so-called” impurity in others when they really see the impurity within themselves. Fear may also be a big problem.

Atheists are lucky in the sense that they see the world as perfect the way it is, and I cannot imagine how liberating it must feel to see the world as it merely is, but in my opinion cruelty, hate, and all ills in the world seem to me as an example of taint and my personal feeling is that taint along with purity do indeed exist.

 Using all the 12 Great Virtues of Man that you already have, in my opinion, will get you to that state of purity regardless of what faith you have. And all of the Prophets have preached these virtues at least once in their texts, and I’ll not be the last to admit that Atheists have the greatest of all teachers: Experience. This however doesn’t downplay the other examples from theism and other people’s experiences. Kill the Ego a bit, read the texts thoroughly, and you’ll see a huge pattern between ALL the prophets and religions of the world. They all advocate the 12 virtues in a unique balance. If you follow the virtues for their own sake with all your heart you’ll feel it too: Purity. I bet you all will feel it within your hearts whether or not you believe God exists and if you still don’t believe in gods, it doesn’t matter. At least you do not have to fear him/her/it like some do and you’ll still feel that purity in your life. Feel free to ask any questions, I might have some answers and I’ll be free to answer, though most of you will likely know it for yourself. This is my loving message to you all. You are already saved. Go in peace my friends and if you agree, spread the message.            

I'm not too familiar with BBCode tags and don't know th color codes, you think you can help me out a bit and give me the right color codes? I'm more familiar with HTML coding.

fixed it. Sorry about the trouble. How embarrasing! I'd like to hear what you all think so far because my list may be far from complete. Help me find if there are any more virtues we may add that I might have accidentally left out. I'm still studying myself into ethics and want to add input into it, thus I request a bit of feedback if you can. It would greatly help  

Good post.
As it happens I think that purity is actually a perversion of moral thinking rather than an ideal and I try to avoid puristic thinking where I can. I think that all forms of idealism can be bad. Obviously we need to have some ideals because we want the world to be a better place, but 'purity' is the sort of ideal that becomes demanding and nitpicky.

When I look back at my life, and at the moments in my life when I feel the most 'pure' about, it's at times when I had no concept of purity or any ideals on my mind, I was just there in the moment, enjoying life as it was. I think that this is what eastern religions/philosophies emphasise when they talk of letting go of attachment and ideals in order to become pure.

This isn't an adovcation of ditching morals and self-critical thinking as these things are necessary for a practical life, but if you're on a search for purity then you must let go of these things.

Actually in the preachings of the sermon at Deer Park, Siddhartha Gautama confirmed the existance of suffering (dukkha) and proposed that the alleviation of that suffering could be acheived by disposing of the selfishness that humans tend to act on. That the dwelling on unneeded desires can be quelched by following the eightfold path. Buddhism follows the same ideal that the whole world has the possibility to become "pure" and enlightened.

Purity isn't a dirty word, I still think everyone can acheive it. I also think that it is psychologically healthy to engage in religious thought and contemplation. You're correct however that Buddhism proposes that people do NOT take any religious teachings to far to the point that they cannot get out of the routine and enjoy life. To add to your above comment; that quiet reflection you mentioned when you clear your mind and are not reflecting on Purity is typical "insight-seeking" meditation very common in buddhist practice. Consider looking Buddhism up as a philosophy, you might be surprised how much you'd like it. Theravada buddhism can work for good philosophical thought without much mysticism. even the idea of "rebirth" in theravada buddhism can be seen as an awakening of ideas rather than a physical death and rebirth. 

I hope this helped.

Peace.

I'd love to tell you, but even I'm a little uncertain myself . I have read almost all the holy texts that have been available from Asatru to Zorastrian texts and what suits me best so far has been a bit of Buddhist and animistic influences.

I believe there are things by science that we can't explain yet, I think there are some things we haven't breached as humans. We may find theanswers one day, but upon waiting I do not deny the possible existance of Gods and spirits, but I don't adhere strongly to any doctrine at all. Call me a believer of Theism in general.

I think that it's too soon to deny any possible idea. Maybe there is no Gods at all, but even then, personally I think we all may be part of something much greater, we just haven't reached that point of knowing or understanding what that purpose is. So we should take it one step at a time.

The Jungian "collective unconscious" theory addresses why across cultures we all (people) seem to have certain archetypes and ideals that are the same. I find it facinating, really. Archetypes like "the Hero", "the Anima", "the Shadow", and "the Ideal". They call into question the deepest thoughts within our own subconscious. I think that in the end what really counts as I said before are the 12 virtues above. Purity whether it exists or not is measured more by them.

Each virtue is equallly important and we must be careful to make sure that we address all of them within ourselves. Without them, we can fall prey to mental disorder and even away from our own humanity. Humans have a tendancy to localize their energy to one of these virtues strongly and may lose perspective to the rest. Localization sometimes varies between culture and between people, but I think what really will help is to seek a balance.

So let us hope that we may someday find the answers, that we may end this division amongst us so that we may find Peace.

Just a prayer that we may someday find peace

It could be summed up as guilt, but depending on how you look at it.  I personally think you've nothing to be guilty for. I never said you were missing anything. I said you're likely on the right path if you feel comfortable with yourself and your virtues. Theists just follow the virtues with purity as the final goal in mind. Don't worry about it at all. You're in good shape.

Peace.

I think that the main point to be said against his philosophy is that once you consciously think of things in terms of purity, that in itself is a form of impurity because it encourages disatisfaction.
In short, you can think about purity or be pure, but certainly not both at the same time! Hence we should strike it off our list of moral constraints.

I think you over-estimate the coherence and correctness of our conscience. Psychological studies show that the commands that our conscience makes of us are not necessarily moral at all. They tend to be drilled in through our upbringing, based on the commands of our 'superiors' and can often have immoral content.

For instance, a person brought up by racists will likely have a conscience that give racist commands. Look at the Phelpses - they genuinely believe what they do to be right, and not doing it would be to go against their conscience.

Forgiveness is only necessary if you feel you've wronged someone.
In the case of real people, if I wrong them then I can feel like I need forgiveness. However, the only way you feel you need forgiveness from a 'God' is if someone convinces you of the guilt through their theology.

Although Christians claim you are forgiven, this forgiveness seems very conditional and still implies that you aren't worthy and aren't doing well enough... it still entails a kind of guilt...
That's why letting go of religion is so liberating.