I'm glad you brought up the issue of taking the bible literally (e.g., think that all lying is equally bad) but unfortunately many people seem to take everything in it literally:

God made man is his own image = God looks like a human
The universe was created in 7 days = Universe created in 168 hours

Except of course when it comes to things like stoning people, women talking in church, etc.

Anyways I would like to respond to a couple points.

Quote Originally Posted by sport_122 View Post
Well if this is the case then how do you rationalize penalties for murder. If life has no value save for a little bit of fun, then why does it have value should it be taken? Why does the individual life, in your world view, warrant protecting? If once a person is dead, they have not cognitive or conscious existence then why are they valuable?
Life not having a "purpose" is not the same as having no value. Most atheist believe life is very valuable, not because of God but because it has intrinsic worth. If we would like to live then by definition life has value. We protect life because if we do not, then it is more likely that our lives in turn will not be protected. That is also why we value animals lives less than our own. There is much less danger for humans by not protecting animal life.

Quote Originally Posted by sport_122 View Post
If there is no absolute morality, then how do you justify punishing anyone? If there is no absolute then how can you justify debating things in this thread? In saying there is no absolute, then you remove the validity of any statement that you make because you admit that what you say is not necessarily true, but its your opinion and anything you do is okay as long as it is your rule for yourself. This is where you lose the ability to punish those who do wrong because they are doing what is within their moral compass.
Actually punishment is not based on morality always. Running a red light is not immoral, especially if you make sure the intersection is clear first but we punish people for it because it makes the streets safer. From a Christian perspective, why should anyone be punished by other people? I thought the Bible says not to judge others and that God is responsible for justice.