are you afraid of the "just because"? or do you not understand it?
I guess I'm not understanding the breadth of "just because." Because in one instance you say that you learned this behavior, and then in the next, you say imply that religious folk are silly because they get everything out of a book. And you seem to have a rather big chip on your shoulder about what people classically, but incorrectly, refer to as being a
Freethinker. So which is? Do you derive your sense of morality from others or are you the maverick who does things, just because?
Kant came up with this wonderful thing called the categorical imperative. there are two questions asked to determine what is right and why do it. the first question (determining right) is "would the world work if everyone did this?" Hence, suicide is wrong. The second question I've forgotten. The end effect, though, is that people ideally do the right thing just because. Not because of society. Not because of the golden rule. Not because of fear of god. just because.
I don't see why you limit the options to we either do the right thing because we believe God will punish us or just because. I've given two other options, that in my opinion, speak more loudly than either or those, which is the fear of reprisal for punitive means or empathic responses. That's not to say that I believe that
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
quote:
Then it doesn't matter what the spiritual condition is either by the same premise.
actually, this is the whole point of the thread. Look at the title. It's not "What is Right", but rather, "Why do Right". I know why I do the right thing, I understand it. What I don't understand is why people never move past the fear motivator, often that of God-fear (hell, sin, etc).
I don't think too many people have Hell on their mind when thinking whether or not they should steal a pack of gum. I think that you not only mischaracterize most religious folk and their motivation for doing good and avoiding bad, but that you also don't seem to have a firm grasp on what is supposed to happen to you when you do wrong in any given religious context. I mean, I guess we'd have to break it down religion by religion and then tackle it.
Especially, why religious types are so focused on this fear. It seems to me that often, the only reason they do the right thing is because of fear of God or because God has determined what is right to do. You know the phrase "only because I fear God I won't . . ."? that's what I'm talking about.
I've never done that. I have, on some occasions, done the right thing ONLY because I believe God wants me to do it and that I believe He always has my best interests in mind. But I don't believe for a second that God will strike me down in an immediate act of retribution every time I sin. If that were the case, I'd be dead long ago.
oh, and I am an individualist.
I know you are.
I forge, or attempt to forge, my own path.
I know you do.
and given that I have to cut my way through the forest because no one has cleared it for me
We all try to clear a path through the creeks, crags, and snares of life. But I would be obtuse to pridefully think that all of my capacities were borne of only my own resolve.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." -C.S. Lewis
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