Posted on 05/27/2007 9:43:00 AM PDT by wagglebee
The very wisdom that you speak of is evidence that God has placed in man the knowledge of moral absolutes (see Romans 1:19) . It is up to man to come to realize that the presence of this comes from the fact that we are created by Him. That Buddhism does not attribute this to the Divine in no way negates the point that Giles is trying to make—but, rather, points out that man has concocted a myriad of ways to deny the existence of God (see Romans 1:21-32 for the results of such thinking.)
I was recently on the edge of death. I was very surprised at my response to the realization that at any moment I might 'wink' out.
God knows what is in the heart of every man. The only heart that you know is your own.
And not even then: Jer. 17:9
Morality and all of its associated ideals are rooted entirely in the presupposition some higher power defines what is correct for human behavior.
The "Golden Rule" is LUKE 6:31. "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise," ...
The Golden Rule still has to be revealed to the well-armed majority at roughly the same time, and believed by that majority, or esle the first believer in the Golden Rule will also be the last.
Is it moral for a creator to destroy his creation? From the perspective of the created, probably not. From the perspective of the creator, if he brought something into existence he can remove it from existence just as easily.
If one does not believe in a creator, then the whole thought question is probably moot.
If I were to use any god as a source for my beliefs, I would defiantly not use the Christian god, or at least take the Xtian god in a literal sense.
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So what are your beliefs and what is the source of them?
Because that’s not his point.
The irony of Chesterton’s poem is that it wasn’t ONLY heathens that acted like those he described in the poem.There have been times when Christians themselves,not to mention Muslims and Hindus,acted just like heathens.
I think,however,that the sordid behavior he speaks of would have been committed with much more frequency and lack of shame WITHOUT a sense of Christian morality guided by The Bible.
And,of course,through Christ,we CAN be forgiven for our depredations.Unlike heathens.
Not a problem for me. I have no interest in religion and I don't accept the concept of some supernatural being. That aside, I have no problem coexisting with Christians and others, as long as they don't threaten me. So pretty much everyone except muslims. But when I'm on my death bed, I won't be seeking refuge in a fairy tale.
So,just out of curiosity,what WAS your response to being so close to death?
Or maybe, just maybe, your philosophical/metaphysical/”spiritual” outlook will be proven to be the fairy-tale/vain thinking. Either way, we’ll ALL be finding out, won’t we?
Much of what the bible states is true of other religions and moral codes. I don't need a bible to tell me it's wrong to steal or murder. I already know that and our laws serve to reiterate it. But I also don't need the bible to tell me it's wrong to sleep with my girlfriend. There's no law against that and I certainly never lost any sleep over it (no pun intended).
There is the gaping 40mm hole in the philosophy of Ayn Rand...
Morality and all of its associated ideals are rooted entirely in the presupposition some higher power defines what is correct for human behavior.
Rand took a premise from the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes and left out the conclusion. Locke did the same thing...
(They also betrayed the logic of Aristotle.)
“Ethics of reciprocity is fundamental to Buddhism. This is partly due to the fact that Buddhism, unlike theistic religions, does not rely on divine revelation.
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No, they just won’t admit to Divine Revelation.
Why is it that you believe “reciprocity”, or, the “Golden Rule” is good rather than believing that selfishness, greed, or brutality are good? In order to call unselfishness good and selfishness bad, there needs to be some absolute moral standard on which to make this call.
And if you believe in an absolute moral standard, isn’t that the same as believing in God, with the absolute moral standard being His Divine Revelation?
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Well, it’s a good rant, but on the whole we’re all better off if the atheists steal the crums from the Judaeo-Christian table than if they all conduct themselves like little Nietzsches.
Even spilt religion is better than none.
Without the constant, eternal, revealed word of God, what is a moral code? What is the foundation of morality? Without God there is no moral code. Or more accurately, there are many moral codes. If fact, with no God there are as many moral codes as there are people on the world at any given time. Without the fixed constant of God, Hitler was just as "moral" as Mother Theresa.
But by not stealing or murdering as a non-Christian, you're infringing upon the property rights of Christians (some sort of business method patent for moral behavior, I gather), and are therefore breaking the law.
So start acting like the Christians who wrote this piece believe you should act, rather than how you think you should act, m'kay?
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do, because as a non-Christian, I have to work on a Sunday.
See?
“If I knew God I’d be Him.”
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