[bluesbassman]

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We know they are irrational since they are Christians.

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I'm not sure if it is funny, strange, or stupid that you think Leonhard Euler, Freeman Dyson, and Isaac Newton are/were irrational. Is it a combination of all three?


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Those men certainly held/hold irrational ideas, though obviously we must judge Newton and Euler within the context of when they lived. It's a similar reason why we don't condemn Washington and Jefferson for owning slaves as harshly as we would if they did so today.

Newton in particular wasted many years intently analyzing the Bible and studying alchemy. Even though his religious writings outnumber his scientific work, it is no surprise he is only remembered for the latter. In fact, there is good evidence that his religious beliefs prevented him from figuring out the stability properties of the solar system via perturbation theory, which was ultimately worked out by Lagrange. If Newton had not been religious, he would almost certainly have made more important discoveries.

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We also know they took the incorrect moral stance on this particular issue.

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Says who? You? So you have the ultimate authority on what is correct on a moral issue?

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Of course not. I also know that it's morally wrong to murder innocent people, and that the Earth is about 4.55 billion years old. That I (and most people) know these facts does not require me to be the "ultimate authority."

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Out of curiousity, are you an atheist because you are afraid of someone having a higher moral authority than you on matters? Or is it just because you're really really rational? (in comparison to guys like Euler and Newton, of course)

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The latter, though it does not require a very high degree of rationality to be an atheist, so it's not saying much. As I stated earlier, it's not fair to compare anyone today in that respect to Newton and Euler.

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If an atheist condemned prostitution in this case, I would also strongly suspect some form of irrationality.

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Why? Isn't it possible that the prostitution, even in this case, would cause some type of psychological harm long-term (see a previous post in this thread)?

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That would obviously be a rational reason to oppose hiring a prostitute in this case, but I am assuming the prostitute did in fact genuinely make the accident victim happy, as the OP stated.

However, we both know alleged concern for his psychological health is a red herring here. We must also ask *why* the victim might feel guilty about receiving services from a prostitute.