Why do Christians assume that?

Question

That human beings would rape, pillage and murder if they are not restricted by a belief in a God? Can we not be decent human beings just for our own Karma? I asked a question about what the world would be like if there was no religion and people came back saying that all sorts of terrible deeds would be committed. I respect people and try to leave the world a slightly better place than I found it, where possible. I do this out of compassion for my fellow humans, I believe we are One race - The human race. All of us flowers that need nurturing in order to bloom, not out of fear of any after life, or guidence from any organised religion.

I have not said that people of any faith commit these atrocities in the name of there religion, merely that some people of faith have responded to me saying that THEY believe that people would do these terible things if there was no faith, my point is that people are good and bad and I do not think a lack of faith would make people more likely to commit these insidious deeds

I am not judging, merely pondering

Answer 1

"Karma" is not about "religion"; karma is enlightenment. Karma is learning what you need to know and achieving awareness. "Religion" on the other hand is believing something you've been instructed and taught to believe, but have no proof of. There's a huge difference between organized religion and the idea of karma. (That was for the benefit of those who don't know the difference among the answerers.)

Imo most people who are devoutly religious *need to be* religious in order to morally discipline themselves. Having no faith in their own intelligence and morality, they draw strength from the idea that all they have to do is follow the path the church has set before them. I think it can be dangerous to take religion away from persons who really feel they need it in order to be "good".

Answer 2

Man has a sin nature. That does not mean that all men sin constantly, but that all men will sin during their life. Some will sin more often than others. Some will commit acts that are more reprehensible than others.
Sin is the result of evil influence, or more correctly, the withdrawal from the influence of God as evil is the absence of God.
That is not to say that one can be absent from God and not do things that can be viewed as good. The reason a person does things may be beneficial to the world even though the motive was evil in its concept. Take the A-bomb for example. Love it or hate it, we must give pause to consider how many wars were averted because of it's mere existence? And yet can anyone call it "good"?
Christians in general know that all good comes from God, and that evil is the absence of God. That is the basic concept behind the belief that without God humanity would spiral into an immoral chaos of hatred and violence.
It is true that people who have claimed to be Christians have done terrible things in the past. The same can be said of any religion. There will always be aberrations. On the whole, though, the morals as outlined in the teachings of Christ instruct us to treat each other with respect, dignity, love and kindness. Aside from the occasional deviation that some branches of Christianity have wandered off on, the Church as a whole maintains those teachings. We obey the commandments of the Lord, not out of fear of the afterlife, but out of love for the Lord.
You have your own point of view and belief, of course. But we as Christians know that sin is an affront to God. He will not tolerate it in His presence. So when your life is over, you will pass before the seat of final judgement, and no matter what your works on earth, if there is sin upon you, you will be sent away forever. The place where you will be sent is seperated from God and since all good comes from God, the place will be totally lacking of good and will be fully evil.
Since all men sin, the only way to avoid this fate is to have the sin washed from you, and only the blood of Christ can do that. His gift is forgiveness, and what he asks in return is not a difficult thing. But it does require humble committment to his teachings and repentance.
These things are not always easy to hear. They are not meant to make us feel good, but to save us from a terrible fate. It is not PC, like your nonsense about "one race-human race" (human is not a race, it is a species). Then again, political correctness is one of the things that has been driving the American culture into the ground.
Your Karma will not avail you on judgement day. It is nothing but sweet, honey-coated poison. There is only one truth and only one way. It won't matter how good you were and how well you treated others. All that will matter in the end is if you have been washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb.
It is your choice. Don't wait too long. He will always be there, wanting you to turn to Him. Then you can see just how foolish Karma is.

Answer 3

My friend mia, Why do you assume that Christians, in general, are all the same? A world without religion is not a possibility but I don't see how it would be better. But you are right as far as not needing any guidance. I have little guidance from organized religion, and I know quite well right from wrong. If it is because I am a Christian then I guess that is a good thing. Most Muslims are good people. As are Jews.

But I must say that religions or lack of religion, have not caused much conflict. Power and control over others is what the conflicts are about.

And if I can add one more thing here: I have many friends. I know many are Christians and Jews. Some are non-believers. But seldom in my real life does the subject of religion ever come up. Of my friends that are Christians, at least, half of them, I don't even know just what denomination
they are. I never ask and they seldom if ever, ask me. Usually, I find out more about people at a funeral then in real life. Not that funerals don't happen in real life, but you understand my point.

Answer 4

The truth is regardless of religion there will be antisocial elements in our society. Though I am a Christian, I will tell you that religion does not create social controls, necessity does. Human societies that still exist today do not murder each other within their own society very long without going extinct. And continuous rape or pillaging would not be tolerated for long without some mebers being kicked out of the band. But historically, people don't see themselves as one race. They see each other as groups or bands. And just as the survival of my own life is important so is survival of the band that keeps me alive. So war happens because of group loyalties, religion just gets the blame.
If God was not in the equation, the net results would probably be the same.

Answer 5

Would humanity run amok without religion? I am unsure that most Christians I know would say that. There is both sufficient evil and sufficient good for today that we need not worry about tomorrow.

What many theists and atheists "don't get" is that many the fundamental views we westerners have about what it means to be a good person are misguided. Most of them stem from some form of liberal individualism, and there are many cultures and subcultures --the Hopi, the Sioux, the Maori, the Hutu, the Suni, the Tlingit and Inuit, the Amish among a host of others-- who find what we take to be "so right" as the real evil in the world. It is the whole scale imposition of western idealism, which in the end, cost other cultures their survival.

HTH

Charles

Answer 6

Well I don't think it's a question of what the world would be like..Now. People are wonderful without God, Now

But a long long time ago, God is the only thing that stopped them..Morals.

They had none. Look up how they lived in the 1400-1500's.

Look what they did too Black's..Slavery?

Look at all those countries that DID invade, Rape, Murder and Pillage. They realy did.

The society is much different, and much better. I personally believe we have religion to thank for that.
The Fear of God.

Now, though, it's a different ball game...

Answer 7

My question would be why do people like to group people together instead of treating them as individuals. You could have asked why do all whites or women or men or Jews and I would still give the same answer. Some people may believe that without religion people would all go bad. Realistically there are very good people who spend their lives helping others who do not believe in God and there are very bad people who do horrible things who believe in God and go to church. Being a Christian does not automatically make you good and not being one does not automatically make you bad. The same for all other religions. Being a Christian means you have given your life to God and will follow him and his ways but depending on whether you follow the old or new testament and how literally you follow it, you can also use the bible as a reason for doing wrong. I happen to be a born again christian who believes there is good and bad in everyone and we each can decide for ourselves which way to be. When I get into a difficult situation or someone hurts me and I automatically think of revenge, I stop and pray for guidance. I believe God helps guide me to make the right decisions just as others believe their conscience guides them. Please do not group Christians or Jews or anyone else together to make a general statement because we are not robots and do not all think completely alike.

Answer 8

We probablu look at this like the atheist governments of Russian, China, North Korea, North Vietnam and Cuba in the last century. During the 70 years of the Russian atheist government, it is estimated that 188 million people were butchered by these governements.

Compare this to the worst century of the Catholic church, the 11th century in which the Crusaders took the city of Jerusalem. The estimate is that religion killed 9 million that year. That gives the atheist a 23:1 kill ration victory over the worst the Christians have ever done.

You can theorize what an atheist society with be like, or you can look at the historical facts.

Answer 9

I have wanted to say this for a long time. I do follow Christ I am not always good at it but i follow Him. I have never started a WAR where I tell a bunch of young men and women to go and KILL other humans. Oh by the way Bush is a Big Christian. I guess it is the individual not the religion. I have friends of all beliefs that believe in peace and love.PS I am very grateful for our men and women who protect our freedoms by laying their own lives on the line.

Answer 10

And I respect your ideas, some are narrow minded and choose to believe what they believe. And unfortunately when it comes to religion this is where we see the most ethnocentric of attitudes emerge. I am a Christian, it is my chosen beliefs. I do respect the ideas and beliefs of others, I am not here to judge, I cannot condemn anyone to heaven or hell. We must all keep in mind the very important essence of human dignity and respect for all. Based simply on the fact that we are all here together, we have the free will of choice. God bless****