*opens mouth*I'm not so unsportsman-like to say that religion makes people behave poorly, unless, of course, it tells people to do crappy things, like honor killings.
DON'T TAKE IT SITTING DOWN*opens mouth*I'm not so unsportsman-like to say that religion makes people behave poorly, unless, of course, it tells people to do crappy things, like honor killings.
*shuts mouth*
*walks away*
Is that really better though? I mean, if you're being moral because you expect treasure in heaven, is that really more moral than doing good for the sake of doing good? Is it more moral to not do evil because you don't want God to punish you, or because you love people and you don't want to hurt others?A Christian knows pertinently that lying is bad, but for an atheist there is no Judge and no justice. So it rather comes down to why morals are followed rather than the fact that they're followed.
Good question. As Christians we trust that God is a fair judge. That his laws are there for a very good reason; and we now know that to be true by looking at human history. The implication of obeying God's laws is that you'll be a manifestation of his love. Look at the following:Is that really better though? I mean, if you're being moral because you expect treasure in heaven, is that really more moral than doing good for the sake of doing good? Is it more moral to not do evil because you don't want God to punish you, or because you love people and you don't want to hurt others?A Christian knows pertinently that lying is bad, but for an atheist there is no Judge and no justice. So it rather comes down to why morals are followed rather than the fact that they're followed.
Well said. We Christians certainly are called to do good things because of Christ, but it's not really related to fear of punishment if we understand the Bible's teachings about what saves us. We should treat other people well because we love and respect God, who loves those other people and wants us to treat them well. Of course there are always going to be some Christians who see things differently and try to scare people into being good with threats of punishment. Not all Christians agree with each other, or with the Bible.Do we consequently do good to go to heaven and avoid hell? Not exactly. As stated above, it doesn't really help our case. Instead we live loving others and doing good in appreciation of what Jesus did on the cross. Thus, the love and sacrifice passed onto us by Jesus, is passed onto others.
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