First, I'd like to preamble this post. There are, undoubtedly, many blogs and posts regarding religion. Well, that should be rephrased to say regarding the Christian religion. People sometimes seem to equate the term religion to Christianity and the term religious person to a Christian. I am not one of those people. When I speak of religion, I mean any and all religions.
Now, it is true that many people get their morals from their affiliated religion. One of the most recognizable examples of this sort of thing is in The Old Testament with the 10 Commandments. But does that mean that people that don't follow any particular religion, or even a specific religion, are immoral or amoral? Are there people that really think that?
I awoke this morning to someone knocking on my door (loudly) at nearly 5:30 in the morning. Half asleep, I wandered out the front hall and opened the door to see the perkiest person I've ever seen in my life asking me to vote religious morals back into office. What? I asked which religious morals, and she said quite matter-of-factly that the state of the United States was in peril because of a lack of faith and morals in the government.
Well, duh... No shit there's a lack of morals - but a lack of faith? Faith in what? Her God? My Gods? Evolution? Apocolypse? Cows? Milk? Butterflies?
Before I let her continue, I reminded her that it was 5:30 in the morning and that I was in no mood to hear about how only religious people have morals.
Why do so many religious people claim that nonreligious people have no morals? I could understand this claim if, say, the only murderers, rapists, and terrorists in the world were all atheist - but they're not. What do you think? Are you religious? If so, do you believe that the nonreligious lack morals, and why? Are you nonreligious, has anyone ever told you that you lack morals? What was their reasoning (I'm sure I'm hoping a bit too much, but I am hoping that their reasons as described to you were not centered solely on the Bible).
The people posing as Christians among the current End-Timer crowd spend far more time thumping on their bibles than they do actually reading all those little words inside. They are modern-day Pharisees who have little to do with real Christianity. The history of Christianity in America over the last 125 years is a creepy topic, indeed.
And it's no surprise that such a person would come knocking on your door at 5:30 in the morning. Have you ever noticed how nearly all the people that are chirky at that hour are unbelievably stupid? My theory is that, when you only have three brain cells, it doesn't take too long for them to get warmed up in the morning. The rest of us need a bit more time to get our neural networks up to full steam.
The development of western-style morality goes back at least as early as the laws of the great King Hammurabi of Sumeria, thousands of years before Christianity and, in fact, well before the time of Homer. This is, I believe, the first time in western civilisation that the basic concepts of western-style fairness were codified into law.
As far as spiritual life goes, I see little connection between religion and morality. I think religion adopted the role of moral arbiter because of the political power once wielded by the Church. But the concept that there is some golden-haired, bearded man floating around on a cloud watching over us and throwing thunderbolts or other curses at people who do bad things is childish and pitiful in an adult. People who actually pay attention to the teachings of Jesus recognize that he was not a man overly concerned with laws or morality or even of political power. He was an advocate of spirituality who exhorted people to love God by loving each other.
And just in case you think there is no reason to believe that God exists, you might want to check out Rene Descartes "Meditations of First Philosophy". If you read that, and fully comprehend it, you are left with a question whose only possible answer is that there is something more to our being than just a bunch of atoms zipping around. You could call it a soul, but whatever it is, it cannot exist without some notion of a supernatural entity, external to ourselves, that is the source of all consciousness. Just read it--that's all I have to say. It convinced me.
So you see, there are a few thinking Christians out here. You just have to know where to look for them. Get thee to an Episcopal or Anglican church. We're not all creepy, brainless, glazed-eyed robots wearing too much makeup and cologne.
:) I know there are a few thinking Christians, it's just too bad that the majority of them do not speak their minds, and often allow the Bible-thumpers to speak for them.
And it has always amazed me that I know more nonChristians who have read through the Bible than I know Christians that have read the Bible. Of course, some would say that these nonChristians are merely looking for loopholes and contradictions, and for some that may be true - but not for the majority of the people I've met.
I thank you for the book recommendation. I enjoy reading books on all sorts of religions and belief systems, so that looks like an interesting one to add to my library.
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/user/fanaile-drupal-org
5:30 in the morning? I wouldn't have answered. Or I probably would have cussed her out. And while religion is one avenue of enforcing a moral code in society, I don't believe religion is the only avenue. And sadly that is what a lot of those Bible thumpers think.
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You should have told the woman that knocked on your door that there's supposed to be a separation between church and state. I don't think religion has any place in politics or governmant.
Sorry, I digressed. Most of the Christians I've met are very judgemental and hypocrytical. I'm Athiest and I feel I'm very moral. I've never been told I don't have morals. I have been told I'm going to hell by my grandma though!
I'm not religious at all, but I think I have a pretty strong moral base. I don't want people to fight, I don't think people should kill each other, I think people should be respectful, I don't think it's okay to steal. I just don't believe in God, and I don't want a group telling me the difference between right and wrong. I use myself as a guide.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.