To make moral judgments means to make 'distinctions between right and wrong behaviour according to conscience'. Christians, however (and other believers), readily admit that the behaviour which they advocate for themselves and others is a matter of simply following their god's orders. This is not morality, by any definition, and the more closely someone follows what they perceive to be the orders of their deity, the more amoral they are. Fundamentalists - biblical literalists, whatever the appropriate name is - are the least moral people of all, since by their own admission they seek to follow rigidly the orders as they see them, and eliminate any input from their conscience at all.
So, can you be a moral person despite adhering to an amoral belief system such as Christianity or Islam? If so, how? Can you argue with your god and tell him he's wrong and you're right, if your conscience demands it? How would your god feel about that - would he respect your opinion?
2006-08-08 05:57:26 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
little star: All of its teachings, or just some of them? What about stoning people to death for wearing mixed fibres or picking up sticks on Sunday, that kind of thing?
2006-08-08 06:10:47 · update #1
boukenger: I think there's plenty of room for debate.
2006-08-08 06:11:25 · update #2
A person can not be moral and adhere to an amoral belief system. By definition, since moral and amoral behavior is mutually exclusive. However, religious ethics do not come directly from God. They come from Clergy, who claim to speak God's will. Since we know there is no God, it's obvious that these Clergy are simply passing on their own ethics, either for some self serving purpose or out of some delusion. Therefore, a person could worship a God in his own fashion, ignoring the edicts of the Clergy. By ignoring amoral edicts from Clergy and worshiping their own moral God, then a person could still be moral and believe in a God.
2006-08-08 08:25:42 · answer #1 · answered by TechnoRat60 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure. Belief in God has *nothing* to do with morality.
I do get your point though :) I think many who are theists don't *really* believe in the 'divine command theory' of morality. Esp since I bet most of them, if they were to hear the voice of 'God' in the middle of the night, would not believe it was really 'God' if the voice told them to drown their children in the bathtub. They would therefore be using their own flawed sense of right and wrong (flawed according to Christian belief--since God's ways are supposedly higher than our ways) to determine if they should do what 'God' told them or not.
There are exceptions though, unfortunately.
2006-08-08 06:07:12 · answer #2 · answered by mikayla_starstuff 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Psalm 40 six:10 "Be nonetheless, and comprehend that i'm God: i'm going to be exalted between the heathen, i'm going to be exalted interior the earth." to me this implies recognizing God is on the stunning of the nutrition chain , striving to be ethical is expected as area of respecting God. God is often the optimal order, in no way guy or something linked with guy. good success
2016-11-04 03:26:42 · answer #3 · answered by holliway 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Outstanding point! Freaking outstanding, although it won't sway a believer.
If they were told by their god to kill every unbeliever they would do it without asking. Is that moral??
Abraham was going to kill his own son because his god told him to. Was that moral??
They are just robots doing the bidding of the controller and if he says it's moral, it's moral
I've been trying to make this point for years, no one listens
2006-08-08 06:12:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course. I believe that a person could be perfectly moral without God. Otherwise...what would that say about God? Think about it. Is God good because he is moral or because he says what is moral is moral? If something is considered to be moral just because God says so then it doesn't really mean anything.
2006-08-08 06:07:21 · answer #5 · answered by Rance D 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm no christian, but I don't think there's room for debate when it comes to following the moral codes outlined by a particular religion.
2006-08-08 06:05:14 · answer #6 · answered by boukenger 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the Bible, several people argued with God and got him to change his mind, Abraham and Moses being among them. So, this would lead one to believe that in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam one can argue with God and get him to change his mind.
2006-08-08 06:13:40 · answer #7 · answered by Icy U 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God'orders are moral. "you shall not kill"...So yes I'm a moral person because the Bible's teachings are moral.
2006-08-08 06:03:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nice.
2006-08-08 06:03:11 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The beauty of your question astounds me!
2006-08-08 10:07:39 · answer #10 · answered by Katy_Kat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋