Albert,
I'm not going to argue the Bible, as I've not read it. I'm not going to
argue for any one religion because, though I was raised a Christian, and in
my own way believe in that faith, my own religious practices are pretty
ambiguous.
But I do have enormous respect for people of faith, and the same for basic
Judeo/Christian morality. It galls me to hear people condemned for their
faith. Living by the conviction of your religion doesn't make you more or
less dangerous than someone who has no faith. I would argue the opposite.
Most of us live in a land of laws. Religion is the source for all basic
laws (one set being the 10 commandments - which are pretty good ones) .
All other laws spawn from these. Maybe religion was an invention of man to
impose general morals on the masses. Maybe not. But it works exceedingly
well for the vast majority of humanity.
That's really about all i've got to say on the subject.
Rick
---------original message--------------
I don't know that it is a true statement that moral decisions are a black
and white issue. Our lives have many levels of complexity. For example,
many
people are opposed to gay marriage but I haven't heard any credible reason
why. By following some arbitrary "moral compass" they hurt other people . I
can't see why that is a good thing.
And I can't see that the bible is a good tool to use when making these
choices as it contradicts itself in many places. You then need a moral
guide
(minister, preacher, etc) to tell you what the bible really means. So your
moral choices are filtered through that person. Sort of "morality by
proxy".
After all, when you say you believe in God that is only partially true. All
that you know about God came from other people so, in essence, you are
really putting your faith in those people to tell you the truth. However,
they don't have any more information then you do. All they have is the
stories that were told to them.
