Zone1 If I had not been raised Catholic... it would have been a disaster

[Harry Dresden]

You are welcome. Is it important to you to be a good person? Do you look down on "bad" people? If so where ever did you get this crazy idea... that you can't seem to shake?

what idea cant i shake ding?....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Unless, of course, you are thinking of the event where a woman bathed his feet with very expensive oil. He was greatly criticized for allowing this. His response: The poor you always have with you... Keep in mind the Catholic Church has spent a great deal more helping the poor over the years than it has in the Vatican.

wow expensive oil.....he would be appalled and pissed at all the silver and gold in the popes house.....

 

[Blues Man]

Here's something that is really, objectively sad:

People who distort what others say just to make themselves look... what? Well, you could fill in the blanks: smarter than everyone else? Too smart for religion? Ha ha... you are falling right into the devil's trap.

I'm not ha ha-ing about THAT, just the fact that the devil really knows wht he's doing, doesnt he?

No such thing as a devil.

I and I alone am responsible for my actions. No gods or demons necessary

 

[Blues Man]

That's not my point. Why is being a good person important? Is it our base nature to be good? Or is it peer pressure? Why would you even look down on a "bad" person? Seems like it's important to you to be a good person. Why?

The thing about humans is that we get to choose how we act.

people from what would objectively be called a good family can choose to do terrible things.

people with a horrible upbringing can choose to be a good person

I try to be a good person because as a rational human I understand that people are far more alike than they are different and I would rather try to reduce suffering than add to it.

that is the path I chose.

 

[Blues Man]

Or maybe it's because we don't have a choice in the matter because it is so ingrained in us that we can't abandon it. Clearly, you can't shake it. It seems you have no choice in the matter. That's God.

No it's not.

It's my choice.

You can't have it both ways and say there is divinely given free will at the same time you say a god has preprogrammed my behavior.

Just one more religious contradiction that you seem comfortable with

 

[nomadic5]

Oh please. That is not why people are good - or try to be. I know plenty of religious people who do not believe in hell and are very good people. Why? Because that’s the decent thing to be!

This comment reminds me of a lot of murder stories. Some guy goes off the deep end and murders his whole family and the news people interview neighbors and many of them say, "He seemed like such a nice guy" and "He seemed to really love his family, we can't believe this happened.."

I guess you just can't say whether someone was/is "good" or not.. .until the end. God waits until the End also.

 

[nomadic5]

jesus would throw all the wealth in the vatican out for the poor to cash in on...that includes the popes 10 thousand dollar robes....

Why are you talking to me about this? I'm the last person who would defend the Vatican!

But the Vatican didn't used to be corrupt and immoral like it is now.

That said, people were saying the same thing back in the day, about how the Vatican's wealth should be given to the poor. I heard this true story once about how poor people didn't want the wealth given to them.. they wanted a place to go to see all the ancient works of art and to appreciate the majesty of the Church... In those days, it really was a Church...

But evil people took over. I say the Vatican became so corrupt due to the fact that Pius XI got a Vatican bank started...

Well, that's not surprising

 

[Blues Man]

Oh please. That is not why people are good - or try to be. I know plenty of religious people who do not believe in hell and are very good people. Why? Because that’s the decent thing to be!

Religion is not needed at all in order to be a humanist.

some of the kindest most caring people I have ever known were not religious and some of the nastiest pieces of work I have ever known went to church 3 times a week

 

[nomadic5]

Religion is not needed at all in order to be a humanist.

some of the kindest most caring people I have ever known were not religious and some of the nastiest pieces of work I have ever known went to church 3 times a week

See Post #26

a valid point

 

[ding]

what idea cant i shake ding?....

Your preference for good over evil. Even when you violate it you won't abandon it.

 

[ding]

The thing about humans is that we get to choose how we act.

people from what would objectively be called a good family can choose to do terrible things.

people with a horrible upbringing can choose to be a good person

I try to be a good person because as a rational human I understand that people are far more alike than they are different and I would rather try to reduce suffering than add to it.

that is the path I chose.

And yet we don't see anyone doing evil for the sake of evil. And when they do do evil they argue that they didn't. Seems like no one can shake the need to be seen as good.

 

[ding]

No it's not.

It's my choice.

You can't have it both ways and say there is divinely given free will at the same time you say a god has preprogrammed my behavior.

Just one more religious contradiction that you seem comfortable with

Statistically it's unlikely that EVERYONE would choose good over evil. It's almost as if they never had a choice.

 

[nomadic5]

So Blues Man, why are you avoiding responding to

Post #26

I'm sure you have heard these kind of news stories yourself. It is foolish to say that this or that person is "good" just because you've never seen him/her do anything really egregiously bad. No one knows what people do behind closed doors.

I hate when people say someone is "good"

Jesus said "There is none good but God."

 

[Meriweather]

Jesus said "There is none good but God."

He also said to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Your preference for good over evil. Even when you violate it you won't abandon it.

i never violate it.....

 

[ding]

i never violate it.....

Thank you for proving my point.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Thank you for proving my point.

ding once again....no problem....

 

[Blues Man]

And yet we don't see anyone doing evil for the sake of evil. And when they do do evil they argue that they didn't. Seems like no one can shake the need to be seen as good.

sure we do.

Serial killers, serial rapists, career criminals.

Various other sociopaths

 

[Blues Man]

So Blues Man, why are you avoiding responding to

Post #26

I'm sure you have heard these kind of news stories yourself. It is foolish to say that this or that person is "good" just because you've never seen him/her do anything really egregiously bad. No one knows what people do behind closed doors.

I hate when people say someone is "good"

Jesus said "There is none good but God."

There wasn't much intellectual meat there that's why

 

[Blues Man]

Statistically it's unlikely that EVERYONE would choose good over evil. It's almost as if they never had a choice.

So then you think there is no such thing as free will