Why does everyone live their life by other people's sets of values?

Question

Why don't people just do what they think makes them a good person and not what a book or church leaders tell them that makes them a good person? God gave us the power to choose, so why can't we make our own choices about what is good and what's not?

and dont say it's because "what the bible says" because i dont believe in the bible. I think it was writen by people (and god had no hand in it) and people were ignorent and believed it.

ps. don't report me because i'm saying things that "are against your religion" because i have freedom of speach. I'm not insulting anyone, i'm just giving my opinion

Answer 1

You are damn right. We need critical, rational imagination rather than pure gullibility.

Answer 2

Why do brain surgeons do it the way they were taught in med school, why do car mechanics do it ...

I guess the best answer is that, an individual might possibly act in a manner that is in the best interests of society without first checking with a "higher source" for the validity of that action, but why bother? When hundreds, thousands, millions of people ponder life and attempt to discern a set of values they can then implement to enhance their life as well as the lives of others, it's a pretty good bet that most of their concepts will be right on.

Granted religious based thinking is most apt to fall into obsolescence soonest as the codification of values often falls into dogma long before other types of philosophical thought, but even they come around eventually. Remember the reformation? Well, I'm sure just as we now laugh about how the church of the 15/16 hundreds was a bit off the beam on scientific thought regarding space, the solar system and the Earth's place it it, we'll all be laughing once again in a few hundred years about such concepts as when life begins, which infidel deserves to die etc.

So, the answer is that generally "other people" have put millions of hours of thought into the value system of their philosophy, religion or whatever and we are not going to equal their brilliance anytime soon so we follow their lead.

In the case of obvious (to us) errors, my action is to attempt to research out the issue and see if the error is on my part or that of the value setting body. If after a diligent search I can't seem to fault my convictions that errors exist in the value system I adhere to, I toss out that one value. But, I still generally follow the rest of the value system.

Knowledge is a moving target. Each second more is learned or discovered for the first time. This continual expansion will inevitably generate many conflicts with a fairly static value system. We just have to keep our minds in an open and questioning frame of reference while we blithely step down the value paths our belief systems offer to us.

Answer 3

Nutz to everyone else, I do what I want. I follow no organized religion nor do I let other's thoughts and or opinions interfere in my life. I am a good person, don't bother anyone and try to avoid all social contact honestly. So not everyone does.

BTW, 'god' didn't give me the power of anything anymore than George Burns could have in all those stupid "o god" movies.
Fiction is fiction, whether made in Hollywood or in some back alley a billion years ago.

Answer 4

In a book I bought recently, they called it "buying into the dream of the community" - meaning, you live your life by what everyone around you tells you in the right path, rather that being introspective and finding what works for YOU. People have a tendency to want to be approved of by others, but that's where you get muddled up. There will always be someone who doesn't approve of what you do, no matter how hard to try.

You really only need to worry about pleasing God and having the inner satisfaction that you're doing the best you can. Anyone else's opinion really doesn't matter.

Answer 5

Societal Norms...
We live, or at least we try to live in a society goverened by what we believe to be acceptable and "Normal". When people break outside of these norms, we tend to make them feel different and in extreme cases even shun them or cast them out of our society.

What you are describing is in essence the begining of Anarchy. Each individual living by their own set of morals and standards. It would take less time than you can imagine for society as we know it to disintigrate into nothing. We would infringe upon each others set of morals almost immediately.

Imagine if you can a person is a murderer living down the street from you. They have their own set of "morals" and that doesn't include respecting others lives. In their mind this is a totally acceptable set of standards and morals and makes them feel normal and acceptable among their peers. To them, "Normal" and being a "Good Person" means I get to kill the people that don't agree with me about my way of life. Sick and twisted as this is, research shows that many people just lack the ability to really care about others. Does this make them a "Bad Person"? By my standards it does, but the question as you pose it is, "Why don't people just do what they think makes them a good person and not what a book or church leaders tell them that makes them a good person?"

Now I'm NOT saying that everyone should pick up a bible and start preaching to their neighbor. In fact, if you look back through history, Religion has been one of the major causes of war throughout recorded history. I believe much the same as you do about the Bible. It's a good book and has some intriguing and interesting ideas about how we should slef govern our lives. It can teach you how to treat others with respect and diginity and teaches us that this si a better way of living with one another than just making our own way. However, I doubt the validity that God "Wrote the good book" as it is handed out via the Vatican in Rome. (This from a former "Catholic Alter Boy and Noviciate")

God gave you the power to choose, what you decide to do with that power is how you will live your life. You can choose to respect others differences and live within the norms that society puts forth (These norms CAN and DO change by the way as we evolve as a society) or you can choose to ignore them and strike out on your own and be one of the people that tries to Ice Skate up hill.

Answer 6

God does give us the freedom to choose our own path. He doesn't force you to follow Him, nor does He strike you down as soon as you do wrong, BUT, in the end you, me and everybody will reap the harvest of the seeds that we sowed throughout our life.

you mention God in your question. do you believe in Him? do you believe in His son, Jesus Christ? if the answer is yes, have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? if yes, then the Holy Spirit has been activated inside you, but how then do you learn what God wants you to do? how do you learn who you are in Christ? i believe that the Bible, though physically written by man, is the true Word of God as He commissioned these mortal men to write.

a perfect example is the book of Revelation. John, who was in exile on the Island of Patmos was charged to write what he saw in the vision. God gave Jesus the prophecy to give to the seven churches of Asia Minor specifically and the church as a whole in general. Jesus sent His angel and John took down all that he saw with the exception of what he was told not to write.

look, don't be decieved by the lies of the enemy. it's easy to sit back and take on a "worldy" view and fire darts at the Bible, God's Word and Jesus Christ himself...i mean, there's good money in it. ask the producers of "The Da Vinci Code", but, hear me very clearly: YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER FOR ALL THAT YOU DO DURING YOUR TIME HERE ON EARTH.

so, never mind what other people think or say, listen to and follow the Word of God and you can't go wrong.

remember, when you've been given the truth, ignorance is not a defense.

Answer 7

Quite honestly I don't think they do. If you think most people do, you should find a new group of people to be around.
In all seriousness, We actually HAVE to live according to other people's sets of values, It's called the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM , it's the law. But even then, people break laws that ARE punished frequently and not by some mystical force that get's your soul when you die, but by actually throwing you in jail somtimes resulting in your execution. People still murder, rape, steal, just to name some of the worst.
But if you really think about it, everyone actually lives by their own set standards to a certain extent and believes how and what they want to believe and sees only what they want to see, no matter what the truth is. That goes for even the most "religious" characters.

Answer 8

There are certain rules that are worth following. Can you imagine the chaos with traffic if there were no traffic rules? As for other rules, like church rules...well the ten commandments are good rules too. Do you honestly want people getting away with murder on a mass scale? How about stealing? Would it be ok to break into your house and steal your stuff? Just my 2 cents on the matter.

Answer 9

I think there are things everyone is born with like DNA, or special talents and abilities (singers, mathmeticians, basketball players, teachers) and things people learn from their parents, the school they go to, the environment they live in. Everyone is impacted by God somehow whether its going to Catholic school, going to church, or watching a volcano erupt or seeing a waterfall. We've learned a lot in school, and many people are comfortable with what they are taught in school, others aren't content just accepting what their teachers/professors else tell them and want to learn for themselves. One great thing about God is that when you go to him directlly and ask him to show you the truth, he'll show it to you.

But back to people living their lives by other people's set of values, unfortunately people are waiting on others to show them which way to go, what to do, etc. People make mistakes and aren't perfect, but unfortunately many people rely on others to tell them what they need to know, people aren't God, they didn't create anything, why not just ask God himself? I'd ask a lawyer for law advice, and I trust my doctor for sound medical advice, why not ask God questions about the mysteries of life? He created everything, and has the answer to every mystery. I'd say just ask God himself and don't become dependent on people alone.
I guess people just don't realize God is available to talk to them on a personal level, and seek people to show them everything. Give it a try, and I'm sure he'll respond. If he doesn't say anything, keep asking! If you really want something, you'll keep at it until you get it. I know because I've tried, and all I have to say is Wow!

Answer 10

Because doing things differently sometimes comes off as strange and even treathening to whats common. A lot of people too go with the flow because doing things differently means explaining oneself eventually so instead we come up with he's doing it so why can't I. Society is mixed up which means people are too. Don't blame it all on us, we're just coping day by day and trying to live this very difficult thing we call life.

Answer 11

Where does the 'everyone' come from? I live my life by my own values. Yes, a lot of them are general morals (i.e. honesty and integrity etc) but that's because these make sense. I certainly don't hold with morals where I can't see a reason for it (i.e. no sex before marriage or whatever - if it's not hurting anyone, why not?)

I choose my own morality and my own values, I do not take them from a book.