Fascinating...
First, let me thank everyone for their comments. I will focus on those advanced by our secular humanist members and for the sake of brevity, I'll respond in general and for the moment omit any specific quotes...
There seems to be a consensus that (with regard to the scenario) the lowly atheist is in full possession of their human rights... despite the lawful world government which has determined otherwise; you seem to be arguing that that these human rights of yours are just a fabrication of the species... prone to the whimsy of the individual. Does it occur to you that such a notion MUST be at the foundation of a scenario wherein a given segment of the population has been stripped of any sense of their humanity, determined to be so inconvenient that they are set for destruction?
I mean, how else would a government EVER be able to legislate and finally determine that such legislation is lawful, IF the notion of human rights was something other than a relative inference of the individual?
I'd ask again from what source do our secular humanists draw these rights? If these 'human rights' are in fact merely a contrivance, then I'd say that within the scope of the scenario that Atheism is pretty well screwed... much as the Jewish citizens of Europe in the early 20th century were screwed. They also believed, in many cases, that 'calmer heads would prevail and ‘reason’ would inevitably prove that they were entitled to their humanity… Sadly, such was not to be and millions perished from unspeakable torment and deprivation.
Those of you that have stated that you would murder law abiding citizens; specifically, those who within the scenario were busting down your door; those who are doing their duty to rid the planet of that which the lawful, duly appointed, secular high court had deemed unfit for life (YOU); you seem pretty eager to destroy innocent, law abiding life... How does that square with your premise that you can be a moral, law abiding citizen and not be religious? Did you not just determine that you would take the life of a fellow human being in the absence of a valid legal justification? Your last act on this earth will be to murder or at least TRY to murder innocent people, who are only doing what the duly elected and lawfully appointed Government had INSTRUCTED THEM TO DO...
On what authority do YOU determine that YOUR life is superior to those who are doing what "THE PEOPLE" had legally determined, through their Democratic process, was the right thing to do?
Please, fight the urge to dismiss this scenario and react as is so typical of the knee-jerk fascist through vulgar clichés and empty headed sloganeering…
I want to know where you draw the strength and the moral authority to take the life of people that are doing their duty as good, law abiding citizens… Citizens who believe, as you do, that the final arbiter of right is that which is legal; that which has been considered and decided by the high court to be right and just… that some members of human species are not entitled to pursue the fulfillment of their life; to be without human rights, on the basis of nothing more than a spurious rationalization, but that rationalization stands on the full scope of power of the government and the support of a fair percentage of the population.
Of course, if in fact you are correct and that human rights are nothing beyond a contrivance of the human mind; then human rights can be whatever the species, government, a popular majority determine them to be; and those found as the subject of the above scenario will be subject to the whim of their fellow man… of course at such a point, their only hope; the only hope of the species will be that they’ll be within the sphere of influence of those who believe as I; that human rights are inherent in human life and rest on the authority of God himself; an authority which stands above that of any human element and recognize that their own rights rest on their own responsibility to defend innocent human life from the threat of death and serious bodily injury; to defend innocent human life from those who are acting in the absence of a valid moral justification and who understand that if they do not take action to defend that innocent life, that they will by default forfeit their own their own human rights…; that their rights rest solely on the inherent responsibility to defend those rights; for themselves as for their neighbors... as those rights are given by God and that no man can take or give what was not his to give and not within his means to take.