[Peter666]

"Why, then, do the irrational, no meaning arguments not apply to sinning Christians?"

Simply because there is a hierarchy of sin. Some sins are regarded as worse than others, thus making sin relative, not absolute. A sin against the first commandment is much worse than a sin against the tenth commandment.

Also, the punishment for sin is not absolute, but also relative. For the Catholics, a small sin does not land one in hell for eternity (an absolute) but gives you a stint in purgatory. A big sin will land you in hell, and many big unrepentant sins will give you a deeper place with even more suffering.

So sin, while being acknowledged as an absolute evil, comes in different degrees. A bucket full of water has more water than a glass full of water, but they are both full.

Atheists on the other hand are faced with an absolute: nothingness after death. Whether you are "good" or "bad" you are going to end up in the same place anyhow, so why give a sh*t about your actions? You should simply seek as much personal pleasure as possible while you can with no regard for how it effects others. Especially children in Africa.