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I don't think a person who follows a recipe is necessarily a cook. A person becomes a cook when they understand cooking. Similarly, one is not moral simply by following some codified rules for behavior, but rather by understanding the nature of moral behavior, itself. Religion certainly plays a role in morality, since it is one of the socializing instruments through which much morality has been codified traditionally, but I think mrality works at an intuitive level as well.
Seems to me that in understanding ourselves, we can attempt to understand others and through our self understanding we can arrive at a sense of right and wrong if we are honest enough with ourselves and willing to extend empathy to others -- that old "golden rule" common to so many different cultures. Some might say that this innate sense of right and wrong that works at such an intuitive level is a sign of the Godliness in all of us, but even if one does not believe in God, I think folks should realize that morality is universal at its core. My theory is that if there were some way to create little ven diagrams of the morality inherent in different world religions and place the diagrams all atop one another, those areas in which they all overlap would contain the essential stuff.
I have to agree that there is much Christian bashing here that serves little purpose other than to show the extreme limits of people's understanding. One doesn't read the N.T. for very long before encountering Jesus' teachings on morality -- issues such as hypocricy and fairness and compassion -- and just because some lodmouths who call themselves Christians ignore these teachings completely, that doesn't indicate that Christians as a whole do so. It's a big religion and practiced by over a billion people. People have varying ways in which they practice the religion and just lke any belief system, it can be misunderstood, manipulated, subverted, treated literally, treated figuritively, used to help or used to hurt. When people use it for the latter, that is indicative of the person and not the religion. Heck, just Who do you think warned people to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing a couple of millenium ago?
There is a tremendous amount of good stuff in the bible. If people wish to find love and compassion and honesty and justice, its all there. About the only real freedom we have in this world is our freedom to believe (and disbelieve), and so what people do beleieve is really up to them on a very personal level. If they find good stuff in their religion, or without religion, my concern has less to do with the religion or lack thereof, and more to do with the stuff they are finding.
Seems to me that in understanding ourselves, we can attempt to understand others and through our self understanding we can arrive at a sense of right and wrong if we are honest enough with ourselves and willing to extend empathy to others -- that old "golden rule" common to so many different cultures. Some might say that this innate sense of right and wrong that works at such an intuitive level is a sign of the Godliness in all of us, but even if one does not believe in God, I think folks should realize that morality is universal at its core. My theory is that if there were some way to create little ven diagrams of the morality inherent in different world religions and place the diagrams all atop one another, those areas in which they all overlap would contain the essential stuff.
I have to agree that there is much Christian bashing here that serves little purpose other than to show the extreme limits of people's understanding. One doesn't read the N.T. for very long before encountering Jesus' teachings on morality -- issues such as hypocricy and fairness and compassion -- and just because some lodmouths who call themselves Christians ignore these teachings completely, that doesn't indicate that Christians as a whole do so. It's a big religion and practiced by over a billion people. People have varying ways in which they practice the religion and just lke any belief system, it can be misunderstood, manipulated, subverted, treated literally, treated figuritively, used to help or used to hurt. When people use it for the latter, that is indicative of the person and not the religion. Heck, just Who do you think warned people to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing a couple of millenium ago?
There is a tremendous amount of good stuff in the bible. If people wish to find love and compassion and honesty and justice, its all there. About the only real freedom we have in this world is our freedom to believe (and disbelieve), and so what people do beleieve is really up to them on a very personal level. If they find good stuff in their religion, or without religion, my concern has less to do with the religion or lack thereof, and more to do with the stuff they are finding.
