Subject:
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Re: Will Libertopia cause the needy to get less?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 1 Dec 2000 16:14:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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1034 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> Tom Stangl, VFAQman wrote:
> >
> > John Neal wrote:
> >
> > > Eric McCarthy wrote:
> > >
> > > > John Neal wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > A Christian does good in response to God's love. God loved us first and our
> > > > > response is to reflect that love as best we can to others in our daily lives.
> > > > > That is why Christians do good. Why an atheist does is beyond me, but if anyone
> > > > > knows, please do tell.
> > > >
> > > > An atheist believes there is no God. An atheist may have other beliefs,
> > > > such as "people are intrinsically good" or "I am intrinsically good."
> > > >
> > > > Also, doing good as an atheist could be more self-rewarding than doing
> > > > good as a Christian.
> > >
> > > Self-rewarding good-doing isn't by definition altruistic.
> >
> > Earning brownie points to get into heaven is self-rewarding, so I guess you are saying
> > Christians are NEVER altruistic?
>
> Well, there are Christians who claim that it doesn't matter what you do,
> if you are among the "elect", you've already got your ticket to heaven.
> Now I guess they can still claim that God is the force that motivates
> them to good, but so many Christians (and people of other religions
> also) just seem to squirm around, trying to evade conclusions which are
> supportable by critical reasoning.
“Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty
without any proof.” - Ashley Montague
I was thinking about god last night. I think part of the problem with parts
of this debate is the need of modern society to break everything down to
proven fact - including ourselves and nature etc. To a certain extent, I
think this cheapens our world. I'd prefer to be in awe nature itself, rather
than a 3d rendering of its component DNA.
So then I wondered more about god/religion. I suppose the fundamental
question is “How were we created?” or “How did we come to exist?” or even
“What drove creation itself?”. There must be something which drives the
underlying creation process?
If you look at religion more generally. Pretty much what it boils down to is:
1. Love the creator / the creation process / creation.
2. Treat your fellow beings as you treat yourself .
You could say that god motivates us to do these thing in some way. However,
I hope that if god did/does not exist we’d do them anyway?
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