One of the interesting aspects of Christian Apologetics is that, after you've been at it awhile, the same arguments get tossed at you (the question of evil, pain/suffering, evolution, evidences for God, slavery, moral relevancy, cultural evolution, etc.).
The atheist will posit that to be religious is to be a slave & that atheist's are "free thinkers" & more intelligent. Ironically, the opposite is the case. Atheists, who obviously comprise the human population are slaves to sin. No one, except perhaps the deranged become addicted to pain & suffering. The process of working through pain, towards healthy recovery, is usually a journey that teaches us things about ourselves & our environment.
Not so with the pursuit of pleasure...which I assume is the case with the depraved behavior described above. The pursuit of pleasure leads to slavery: an addiction to behavior which becomes increasingly perverted.
1 Corinthians 10:23 Living Bible (TLB)
23 You are certainly free to eat food offered to idols if you want to; it’s not against God’s laws to eat such meat, but that doesn’t mean that you should go ahead and do it. It may be perfectly legal, but it may not be best and helpful.
Same passage, in The Message translation:
23-24 Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
and in the New King James:
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
What happens is that "X" behavior becomes a sort of idol which we exchange for the glory of God. Thus:
Romans 1:28-32 - New King James Version (NKJV)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
And, of course, the depraved must then ustify their behavior:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 - New King James Version (NKJV)
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
