Religious people how do you explain this?

Question

Ok I'm going to make what I consider a pretty good argument not for the non-existence of God but for the B.S. behind the whole concept of sin.
Consider this: Think about every action that a human may do that you might consider bad ( be it murder or whatever). I'm sure mostly every person would agree that it is bad. But then think about the entire universe - How exactly does that action make things worse for the whole universe? Answer: it doesnt.
There are only two possibilities for the concept of good and bad:

One is that it was made by humans and humans alone and has absolutely no meaning besides our own interpretation.
The other one is that God created this concept, however what would be the purpose of that? To be able to judge people and make them go to heaven or hell as a result? That kind of contradicts the whole "God is good" thing.
So both of these come to the same conclusion - there is no good and bad and sin does not exist.

good answers only please

Answer 1

For the same reason religion exists in teh first place. because small narrow minded people need something bigger to believe in than just themselves. Its a double standard they will answer with though. Of how god is all knowing and all seeing, so he does care what is going on here.....so small minded. they think int he universe of billions of galaxies each with billions and billions of stars that what happens between 2 people matter. Insane.

Answer 2

Right and wrong otherwise known as The Law of Human Nature. First off is right and wrong a man made concept? I would have to say no. I am sure that in your days you have had many quarrels with a person right? In a case were someone takes your seat, well you are going to want that back so you argue with him. What you are doing is telling him he is in the wrong. They would be no point in saying this unless you two had agreed on a standard of right and wrong. It has been like this since the beginning so and everyone has the same interpretation of what right and wrong is. Although it may differ a little from culture to culture you still would have to agree there is no big difference.

I see how your so wonder why a God would make such a thing as moral, because morals are rough something we ought to watch for but is hard to follow. there is no comfort in Christianity at the beginning because of this, it is mans own fault for having sin but God does forgive.

I kinda went off on a tangent there and honestly as you might tell I am not yet very well studied. But I have already made a decision to follow the Lord the rest of my life. If you are reallllly interested in this topic I would have to say read "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis that is where I got all that info. It is an awesome book! If you have anymore question fell free to ask me!

This is from your not so local adviser dude

Answer 3

As far as good and evil are concerned. I fully believe that both exist. If you would like some Non-Religious justification for determining Good and Evil, I would look to Kant's Catigorical Imparitve. This is a means by which to judge morality and immorality, also look at Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Anyone talking about Social Contract, or Social Compact - These men provide great answers as to the nature of Good and Evil. -

In My Opinion, Evil, for lack of a better definition, is when you do something that causes another person or persons pain, no matter how big or small, If you think about the things that man and God concider Evil they are things like Lying, betrayal, murder, all things that harm others in some way. If you add to that religion Evil extends also to alliance, or condoning of evil action as well as committing it, for instance allieing with evil people, or condoning evil action.

All people are capable of Great Good and Great Evil. God places us on the earth to test us, His plan extends far beyond this mortal coil, and Heaven and Hell are not the final steps in that plan, This existance is a "test" those who pass move to the next level, while those who fail will not. God's Judgement is Devine and his ability to judge has nothing to do with his goodness.

Answer 4

Adam and Eve faced a decision—should they accept God’s standards of good and bad or should they follow their own? (Genesis 3:6) They chose to disobey God and to eat from the tree. What did this simple act imply? By refusing to respect the limits placed on them by God, they asserted that they and their offspring would be better off setting their own standards of right and wrong. How successful has mankind been in attempting to exercise this godlike power? (Check world news)

Personally I'm appling the teaching of Jesus Christ, whose moral standards have been praised by Christians and non-Christians alike. Jesus taught: “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.” (Matthew 7:12)

Some people most likely would say I'm foolish for being so honest. But popular opinion is an unreliable guide. For example, if you had lived in a society where the majority believed that child sacrifices were acceptable, as some societies in the past have thought, would that have made the practice right? (2 Kings 16:3) What if you had been born into a society that viewed cannibalism as a virtuous act? Would that have meant that eating human flesh was not really wrong? The popularity of a practice does not make it right. Long ago, the Bible warned against that trap, saying: “You must not follow after the crowd for evil ends.”—Exodus 23:2.

Jesus Christ identified another reason for being cautious of adopting popular opinion as a guide to right and wrong. He exposed Satan as “the ruler of the world.” (John 14:30; Luke 4:6) Satan uses his position to mislead “the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Therefore, if you set your standards of right and wrong purely by what is popular, you might be adopting Satan’s view of morality, and that would obviously be disastrous.

Answer 5

First, there is no measure of sin. A sin is a sin. All can be forgiven through belief in Jesus Christ, even murder. The question isn't the whole "God is good" thing, it's whether or not man has the faith to follow Him. I agree that much of "religion" or "religious doctrine" is man made and has little to do with the true and living God. Everyone seeks a comfort zone in a church that best "suits" them, no one likes to be told they are who they are, and worst yet, adjust their lives to fit a certain disciplinary lifestyle. For every differing opinion there are more churches & religions. It is said that there are many wolves in sheep's clothing. Knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him transcends religion, politics, & much of society. It is a willingness to admit that one transgresses and will always do so & will need help in knowing Christ & acknowledging He is the Son of God. Again, it is a personal issue between you and God. I can't tell you how to believe. That is an issue that one has to develop for themselves. The same goes with the issues of "sin". Man has his authority, God has His. To know the conflicts, one has to make personal decisions in relation to knowing Him.

Answer 6

Sin does spread like ripples in a pond..the closer you are to it the greater the effect you see.

Adultery hurts the husband or wife it is committed against, which also grieves the persons parents to see them hurting, tears apart families thus hurting children and always has the potential for spreading sexually transmitted disease..if nobody disobeyed the commandments regarding sexual conduct then STD's would never spread....so sin does or at least hasd the potential to hurt everbody...sin is real and is painful. Recently researchers have identified that 80% of cervical cancer is caused by a certain strain of Clamydia (hence the recent vaccine for it).

The love of money and/or power has killed hundreds of millions through the ages wars, Genocide...these have certainly effected everybody on this planet in one way or another.

The list would continue the same way for every sin listed in the scriptures.

God is real and those that obey the commandments do not reap the fruit of their own sins; but, are many times afflicted by the sins of others. No man is an island unto himself and neither are his sins...the effects spread outward, just like the ripples in a pond.

Answer 7

There are a lot of things that humans are doing that are destroying the earth, the oceans, the air quality.....These things DO have an effect on the whole universe.....Our children and grandchildren are living in a less safe world today than they were even 100 years ago. There is so much death and violence in the world today and it is affecting all of us. Whether it's by losing a loved one, taxes going up, longer waiting lines in the airport, more disease, etc......we are ALL being affected by sin. It begins the day we are born and it will continue until Jesus returns OR until He calls us home.......

Answer 8

I didn't see your good argument about a non-existence God, and I probably don't have a good answer, but here goes. Why does sin have to affect the entire universe to be sin. I don't think the "concept" was created for the purpose of people to get judged. In fact, to be afraid of hell, or sin, is probably in our best interest, and everyone else's best interest. If we could just kill someone anytime we got angry, for example, most of us would be dead. Actually, their probably wouldn't even be a human race. I guess it's all in the perception.

Answer 9

So are you saying sin can only be wrong if it affects the whole universe? If you sin against one person and it hurts them, that is more than enough to make it wrong. One person matters to God as much as the whole universe does to Him.

Do you really think the only reason God commands me not to murder you, or steal from you, or lie to you, is so He can make rules? I think God caring about your well being has a lot to do with it.

Answer 10

alright uh...

so you're against religion--hoo-ah! but it's people like you who try to negate the reality of spiritual matters just to make the point that you hate religion, which is stupid and depletes your humanness and experience of life itself and it also makes you look dumb. if you killed someone, (hopefully) undoubtedly you would feel guilty. unless you are a soul-less robot, you would. that would affect your day-to-life and seep into many issues concerning your character. if you kill someone, they are incapable of having any "effect on the universe," positive or negative, and thus the universe would not work the way it would if you'd not removed him from the picture. read about the butterfly effect and chaos theory.

if at a gut-level you don't find something inherently wrong with killing someone, f-ck you. if i went on a tirade right now about you being a self-righteous idiot who is trying to look smart, it would have a negative effect on you. if you read that i thought you were a jackass who really has no idea what he's talking about wouldn't that have a negative impact on you? wouldn't that inherently be "wrong"? but it's because you have no idea what you're talking about that i feel obligated to make you feel like a schmuck, just to make a point.

i see what you're saying that there is a subjective aspect to our interpretation of right and wrong. that was the one higher-minded aspect of your question that i picked up on. but to imply that it isnt wrong to kill someone is just ridiculous.

as far as saying that a god carrying out a morality code that punishes people who commit crimes against humanity defying the whole "god is good" idea, that makes zero sense. this is just a displaced anti-establishment attitude going on here. if there is a god, he works on behalf of humanity as a whole and therefore an individual can be punished in a spectrum of ways for any degree of crime. read about karmic retribution and pay attention to life itself.

Answer 11

Religion is neccesary in the name of Order. If everyone was selfish(there is no law againts selfish), greedy(again, no law againts greed), prideful, dishonest, and everything else,

The whole organization of the society would collapse.

You might say even if you're an atheist you are none of this, that may be true because you were not born an atheist, imagine everyone born as an atheist, surely the majority would act this way because there is no "God" to stop them.