Is making laws based on faith in a higher power rational?

Question

Most of the faithful that I've talked to seem to think so. But then they turn around and acknowledge the fact that they chose it. They have faith and noone can know. Lawmakers, more often than not, have a gospel they read before they sit down to decide what's fair. Almost like right now, I could be influencing how you answer. Objective reasoning is a funny thing. Maybe we should be planning for an infinate future here on Earth?!

Answer 1

*Patiently Read This, Please. Thank You.*
"Gripped by fear men go to the sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines ~ Dhammapada 188"

Primitive man found himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him. Finding no security, he created the idea of a God that gives him comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a God gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will hear them explain that they believe in a particular God because they prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this supports the Buddha's teaching that the God-idea is a response to fear and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we cannot change. He replaced fear, not with irrational belief but with rational understanding.

The second reason the Buddhists do not believe in a Creator-God is because there does not seem to be any evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming that they alone have God's words preserved in their holy book, that they alone understand God's nature, that their God exists and that the Gods of other religions do not. Some claim that God is masculine, some that she is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their God but they laugh in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of another God. For centuries, men have prayed to God for protection from war, from natural calamities and disease. Yet till today, these prayers remain unanswered. This is not surprising. Even less surprising is that so many different religions having spent so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their God there remains no real, substantial or irrefutable evidence.

The third reason the Buddhists do not believe in a Creator-God is that the belief is not necessary. Some claim that the belief in a God is necessary in order to explain the origin on the universe. But this is not so. Science has very convincingly explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the God-idea. Some claim that belief in God is necessary to have a happy, meaningful life. Again we can see that this is not so. There are millions of atheists and free-thinkers, not to mention many Buddhists, who live useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a God. Some claim that belief in God's power is necessary because humans, being weak, do not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence indicates the opposite. One often hears of people who have overcome great disabilities and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties, through their own inner resources, through their own efforts and without belief in a God. Some claim that God is necessary in order to give man salvation. But this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of salvation and there is no reason nor any other reasonable basis to accept such a concept. Based on his own experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through reasoning
and logic, and self-understanding.


But so many people believe in some form of a Creator God, it must be true.

Not so. There was a time when everyone believed that the world was flat, but they were all wrong. The number of people who believe in an idea is no measure of the truth or falsehood of that idea. The only way we can tell whether an idea is true or not is by looking at the facts and examining the evidence. If people continue to believe in God, they do so through faith, and faith is simply holding on to a belief when reason, logic and the evidence says otherwise.

Answer 2

Maybe we should plan on the end of the world not happening until the Sun turns into a supernova.

Answer 3

NO it is not rational. Laws in my opinion should be made based on degree of harm. Whether it be harm done to a person, an animal, monetary harm. emotional harm, enviromental harm etc.and make the punishment fit the crime.

Answer 4

Only if that higher power is the absolute Truth and able to direct the actions of the universe through that Truth.

Answer 5

Most politicians believe in God if thats what youre saying and the ten commands were the first laws that others were based on....yes makes perfect sense since GOD KNOWS BEST!

Answer 6

No........it is definately. People are individual, and I see no way to keep personal beliefs out of the system, because the system is made up of people.

Answer 7

you would be putting your own ideals on everybody else. According to the old testament, adulterers and people who don't keep the sabbath should be stoned to death.

Doesn't sound good to me.

Answer 8

No.