It's fairly likely that our civilisation, should it survive, will make great ethical progress and regard many of our views today as absurd. It's extremely unlikely that this progress will include approval of eternal torture.
I believe in God, and I will admit that I don't understand a lot of the reasoning's in the Bible and why certain things happened, it's beyond my comprehension, but I realize that in the text, God wasn't the only one with the ability to affect things. Keep in mind, just like the Good vs. Evil idea, there is God vs. Devil (which in terms of the Bible, is catalyst for tempting us out of paradise).
Now, lets look at the fundamental morals behind the Bible, New Testament of course, because with the New Testament we were given a new law.
- Love one another
- Be a generous, helpful person
- Accept personal responsibility
- Don't have a sense of entitlement
- Honor and cherish your spouse
- Don't mislead or abuse children
- Honor your parents
- Be proactive
- Resist conformity
- Abide by the laws
- Don't be judgmental
- Be kind
- Be compassionate
- Be empathetic
- Don't be obsessed with possessions or wealth
- Work hard
- Ignorance is not an excuse
- People are people, no matter their ethnicity
- Be tolerant
- Don't cheat
- Everything in moderation
I could probably go on if I thought about it more, these are the immediate things that I try to keep in my mind from my studying. Say what you will, but that's a pretty good model for living life. One that I try my best to implement, and constantly fail at, but hey, practice makes habit.
> Love one another - Be a generous, helpful person - Accept personal responsibility - Don't have a sense of entitlement - Honor and cherish your spouse - Don't mislead or abuse children - Honor your parents - Be proactive - Resist conformity - Abide by the laws - Don't be judgmental - Be kind - Be compassionate - Be empathetic - Don't be obsessed with possessions or wealth - Work hard - Ignorance is not an excuse - People are people, no matter their ethnicity - Be tolerant - Don't cheat - Everything in moderation
I don't think gort would have any problem with those morals. What he has a problem with is:
"Love one another - Be a generous, helpful person - Accept personal responsibility, etc., etc.,... because otherwise, you'll burn in hell"
As an agnostic, I find it amusing that someone would demand that god conform to human morality. But it's an understandable viewpoint.
Right, I follow you, that's why I mentioned in the heading that there are things I don't understand. If you think about it though, just like our legal system would hold me accountable for my misdeeds, wouldn't the consequences apply if we broke a law set by a "supreme judge" if you want to call it? In the latter case though, you get off a lot easier for repeated offenses if your heart is right.
