Where did you get your faith from?

[Avatar4321]

Because most people do do good. Just because some don't doesn't mean you should lose faith in all humanity...

I don't think most people do do good anymore.

Oh alot of people think they do good. And all people can do good. Its a gift of God through the Atonement.

But i see too many selfish people in the world.

 

[Avatar4321]

That's certainly Hobbesian philosophy. I don't buy it. I don't think we need a divine and punishing being to control our actions. Though I do believe it is important to do good.

I've known church-going folk who were both moral and immoral, IMO. Not having religion doesn't make one immoral.

We don't have a divine being punishing us to control art actions.

God is pretty clear that He left it up to choose. However, He teaches us the principles and guidelines we need to live by if we are to choose happiness.

Not having religion might not make one immoral, but it does significantly incraese the chances. What motivation is there to do good and be moral without the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness to anchor your soul?

 

[Avatar4321]

Some are. I know lotsa folks who are. Lord of the Flies was as fiction book...a good one, and one with a good moral, but a work of fiction nonetheless. Time to head off...have a good one DMP...Jillian, Mom...

Simply because the book is fiction does not mean it fails to accurately portray human nature. Quite the opposite, the best fictional tales do.

 

[Avatar4321]

In this, you are correct. When our morals are rooted in their consequences to this human life, in this world, we arrive at a more human and humane ethical system than many rooted in deontological ethics.

The problem with that is humans are short sighted. We cannot see beyond the actions we wish to preform to the consequences of those actions.

Take for example pre marital sex. If you think about it, there are incredible consequences to such activity. And contrary to what society wants you to believe, these consequences effect all of society, not just oneself. Carelessness in this area can result in severe consequences, not only to the initial people involved, but also to future generations of mankind.

If your theory is correct, and our morals are and should be rooted in their consequences to this human life, then we would be an incredibly chaste society. We would engage in self control and focus on the importance of marriage.

But the problem is most of society is completely blind to the real consequences of their actions. What happens when a person never seens the negative consequences of their actions till decades later in their life? What if they never see the consequences period?

This is why The Lord gives us commandments. He knows the end from the beginning. He sees the consequences for out actions even if we don't see it immediately. That may seem incredibly harsh to people until they realize that these commandments are designed to protect us and to keep us happy and free. Wickedness never was happiness.

 

[Phaedrus]

Not having religion might not make one immoral, but it does significantly increase the chances. What motivation is there to do good and be moral without the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness to anchor your soul?

Self motivation, there is the simple choice that you want to be good. It need not be motivated by anything. To directly address your religion and morality quote, you are absolutley right, but please do note not all religious people are moral either.

 

[MissileMan]

Take for example pre marital sex. If you think about it, there are incredible consequences to such activity. And contrary to what society wants you to believe, these consequences effect all of society, not just oneself. Carelessness in this area can result in severe consequences, not only to the initial people involved, but also to future generations of mankind.

Millions, perhaps tens of millions (hundreds of millions?) of people engage in pre-marital sex with no ill effects at all. If one takes the necessary steps to avoid unwanted pregnancy and disease, what's the problem?

If your theory is correct, and our morals are and should be rooted in their consequences to this human life, then we would be an incredibly chaste society. We would engage in self control and focus on the importance of marriage.

Where did you find this direct proportionality between morality and chastity?

 

[Avatar4321]

Self motivation, there is the simple choice that you want to be good. It need not be motivated by anything. To directly address your religion and morality quote, you are absolutley right, but please do note not all religious people are moral either.

I never claimed they were. If they were i wouldnt have to bash my head against the wall trying to get them to actually start living what they supposedly believe.

 

[1549]

I noticed I am jumping into this thread during a discussion of sexual morality.

I am going slip in my answer to the thread title: my parents.

Ok now continue discussing sex...

 

[Phaedrus]

good for you...

Is this analagous to onthefence's view, or roomy's? Or is it now time for something completely different?

 

[no1tovote4]

I too will answer the question in the title. I spent years walking in anger over what my parents put me through as a child in the name of religion. I started talking to a friend, then later a priest of a Buddhist temple in DC while I was in the Navy....

After study, talking, friendship, loss of anger, acceptance, forgiveness, and finally peace I suddenly realized that I had become a Buddhist.

 

[no1tovote4]

Is Buddhism a religion or a state of mind?It sound interesting nontheless.

It is both.