[quote]Christine wrote:
[quote]ZMorris83 wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
[quote]ZMorris83 wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
[quote]ZMorris83 wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
[quote]ZMorris83 wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
[quote]Christine wrote:
I believe that one only needs rules if they have no internal moral compass.
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Isn’t having an internal moral compass mean having rules that you set for yourself?[/quote]
No.[/quote]
The human conscience cannot be trusted, we are way too intelligent and perceptive to where we can justify just about anything we do regardless of the negative effect it may have on others.[/quote]
Maybe yours can’t be trusted.
And the conscience of those who claim to have religion can’t be trusted simply upon the fact that they profess to believe in some sort of higher power. [/quote]
So on what grounds do you assume that you are morally superior to myself or anyone else…?
You sound like the Christians that turned me away from church and Ghandi spoke of.
Human nature in of itself is sinful and self-serving, just look at toddlers.
The human conscience simply functions on the judgement of your peers, if what you do is accepted by those close to you then you will feel it is justified. Look at slavery, the apartheid, the holocaust, manifest destiny, and etc., it cannot be trusted.
This is not an attack post against you, I honestly would like to discuss this with you. [/quote]
Those atrocities that you mention here all have a basis in some sort of dogma.
I don’t have any steadfast rules. [/quote]
Which is why I feel the human conscience cannot be trusted, religion or dogma is not too blame, it is simply human nature being allowed to flourish through fear, ignorance, and greed. Religion was used to justify their actions.
There are no steadfast rules, life is not that simple, every situation deserves to be looked at individually and treated as such. The Gospels and Jesus give us guidelines to help us navigate our existence so that our instincts and insecurities do not fully cloud our judgement.
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They may be great guidelines there to follow, but are those who profess to believe actually following them?
I actually think that people are overall good, and the majority do. But those who scream loudest usually fail in action.[/quote]
No, they are not, and yes, humans have the potential to be good, but in the end were all looking out for number one which makes it difficult to be truly empathetic or loving towards each other. God is complete in of Himself, both male and female, entirely self sufficient, and entirely capable of unconditional love for His creation.
Don’t look to humans for an example of God’s love, it is really something that you have to discover on your own through your own development, experiences, and acts of kindness. Humans will ultimately always dissapoint you, but Jesus and the examples He gave in the Gospel are what you should reference.
Those who use His teachings to build themselves up or present themselves as better than others, are completey missing the point and shout the loudest because they are desperately looking for someone to validate their opinions and their ego, like a girl in a skimpy dress at a nightclub that just got dumped. [/quote]
Yes, I understand that humans are selfish when it comes to the basic needs, yet I don’t believe that every person needs to have religion in their lives in order not to do harm to others. Yet, I still think that some people (a minority) need religion and a set of rules in order to function within society.
For example: I once went skiing with a friend of a friend. The ski trip was with this guy’s church and he was introduced to me by a friend of mine. Seamed like a good guy and I went. The day started with a prayer with him and his church group (no biggie, at the time I wasn’t so sure I was atheist, but was more open). Anyway, great day of skiiing.
As we were driving home, he decided to tell me the story of why he was religious. He told me that he had the chance to rape some girl, and he really wanted to, by the way, but that somehow god told him this was the wrong thing to do. I don’t remember all of the specifics of the story, I was just simply freaked out. (People always want to tell me their secrets for some reason, I guess I’m a good listener). Anyway, what I figured out from this conversation was that some people really needed some sort of higher power to tell them that rape is wrong, and that maybe religion is a good thing for some people.
He never expressed to me that he felt bad for wanting to rape. He only didn’t do it because ‘god’ told him not to.
Anyway, I never went skiing with him again.
As far as I’m concerned, he may be religious, but is completely devoid of any moral compass.
These are the folks I am wary of. [/quote]
Empathy is a function of the brain, some are naturally stronger in this area, and just like what we have learned from cereal killers, regardless of your upbringing, some humans are unable to understand why what they are doing is detrimental to society.
Religion can be used to guide them down a better path, but understanding why certain acts are hurtful to others and why we need forgiveness is the foundation of Christianity and I hope that guy eventually realized this.