Hmm... Would Biblical moral/law enforcement work in all aspects of life?

Question

What if we solved racism by teaching our children that if they are racist Nat Turner is going to get them?

What if we told them that if they didn't study hard they would fall behind and the langoliers would get them?

Is fear the proper motivation to achieve good?

Answer 1

Hey, whatever works. Maybe even have some overlaps like, run one more red light and god will smite you.

The original teachings of jesus didn't say anything about hell or the devil. Jesus was a peace activist of his time. Teaching things like love, peace, empathy, and hope. He was a very charismatic leader and when he died, the movement he created was dying with him.

The apostles started seeing the followers losing faith and turning back to their previous beliefs. They needed something, within the framework jesus created, to keep them faithful. There is no way of knowing if the intentions of the apostles were good or if this was the beginning of the power preacher, but they started generating fear to keep the faith.

When the fear did not work entirely, traditions of the other religions were introduced as christian traditions. Just compare the dates of the christian holidays to pegan holidays. It's not a coincidience, it was a tool to grow the religion.

And if you look at today's prosperity based evangelists, who preach send me a thousand dollars and god will reward you 100 fold. Jesus essentially taught, yeah it's a hard life here, but be good to each other and you can go to heaven to live forever.

Only a very charismatic and good person could generate a following based on being as good as you can and the only earthly reward is that maybe people will be good to you. People want it now. If I donate $10,000 I expect to get back a million, and have a room at the church named after me so everyone can see what I did.

Oh, and as long as we're smiting people, maybe we can do something about people who talk too loud on their cell phones.

Answer 2

Fear is great for motivating people. But,they only respond to the fear and will never respect anyone who uses fear to enable them. Try showing tolerance and respect for others. That way they may have the chance to grow and have a healthy life without hating everyone or what others may or may not believe in.Why teach fear? Don't you like your kids? Do you want them to grow up and teach their kids how to hate as well? What kind of demented parent wants their kids to be as ignorant and misinformed as you seem to be? You sound like a really good christian.....disrespectful and afraid of everything. Why don't you stick to what your faith has taught you,you know,threaten them with hell or some other fear that the christian religion uses to control the meatballs. You know who I mean, all the insecure people that are afraid to think or act for themselves. Good? Oh yea...good and misinformed,ignorant and hateful,and afraid. Very afraid. What if we teach them that we are all equal regardless of color or faith......or better yet, stick your head back in that bucket you've been living in and ask again after you grow up,if someone of your ilk can grow up.

Answer 3

Depends on the age. It's hard to reason a 2 year old by cause/effect. So, fear is a good motivator. For people with abstact thinking, let's say 'adults' ; the wish to please, and delay of gratification for ultimate reward is a great motivation.
In a family setting, people 'want' to please others. When I was a kid, I wanted to make my parents proud, and I wanted to hear my dad say, "Good job, sis!." So, as an adult, I want to please God by my behaviour, and I want the ultimate goal of living with Him forever.
So, if the 'rules' were followed by all, which the main ones are loving God first, and loving everyone else second, ---recipe for success. Cause true love would want to cause NO harm!
I have the 'rules' and it's up to me to follow them. When I don't, I ask for fogiveness. So, it's not fear that motivates me, but rather knowing that my life is short compared to eternity with God. And delay of gratification is worth it, cause whatever I receive with eternity, is much better than anything life has to offer.

Answer 4

No. Fear can be an excellant motivation, and in some cases would work well, but what happens when fear extends past motivation to do well? When fear controls all emotions, the abilities to love, logic, reason- is it worth it in the end? To give those things up? Nope.

Answer 5

Not to that extreme. Sometimes fear of consequences causes a person to strive to be Not be bad. A person who doesn't steal because he's more afraid of getting caught isn't necessarily Good... But the fear of the consequence kept him from doing something bad. To achieve "Good", one has to desire it. It helps that they see what it does for other people. You will never come to fully appreciate it if the only reason you do good is because you fear something else.

Answer 6

I don't know whether it's proper, but it certainly seems to be effective for many people.

Of course, there are exceptions.....

Answer 7

you hit the nail on the head i had a muslim friend who told me she did good cause she wanted to get into heaven i said i did good cause i want to not for a reward

Answer 8

no