Christians say they have morals... I think they do. But maybe they do the right thing sometimes for fear of being punished by god if they don't. Athiests also have morals yet we fear no eternal spanking from the skydaddy. We do the right thing because it's the right thing. Does that make us more moral?
2007-10-17 10:42:28 · 40 answers · asked by Jenae, TV (tempter of the vile) 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes it does. Doing good out of fear of punishment or promise of reward is not actually doing good at all, it's just self-interest. Doing good WITHOUT any promise or threat is pure morality.
2007-10-17 10:46:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 3⤋
More moral...less moral...what does that mean? We all do things for selfish reasons, ultimately. How does morality fall into that? Only when we USE morality to feel good, I think. So, who is actually being more moral? Those who use morality MORE to make themselves feel good (or to avoid displeasure, which is still selfish and only a little different).
Does it matter if you are following someone else's rules or your own inner conscience? Only in the consequence. If I give a homeless person food, it doesn't matter why. If I beat a gay person up because I've convinced myself that God wants me to do what I really feel like doing, guess what, same same. The only objective point of view is that of EVERYONE COLLECTIVELY. No one is right subjectively, neither are they wrong. Morals are a hollow idea. Suffering is real...now if we could only start to value it.
2007-10-17 10:49:53 · answer #2 · answered by dissolute_chemical 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't generalise and say that atheists are more moral than Christians but I agree that doing the right thing because you recognise that it is the right thing to do is morally better than doing the right thing out of fear of punishment. I believe many Christians do the right thing for the same reasons atheists do - because they are good people who don't want to hurt others.
2007-10-17 10:47:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
you have 2 families---in one, the parents drink and smoke pot in front of their children..... in the other, the parents do NOT drink or smoke ANYTHING and go to church twice a week--yet in BOTH families, the children are polite, smart, well behaved and charming.... does that make the kids from the family with NON smoking parents better then the kids from the ones who do NOT? NOT IN MY BOOK, the kids are EQUAL---therefore, so too would be the morals of christians and athiests... the only difference is in the WHY they have morals......
2007-10-17 10:49:49 · answer #4 · answered by LittleBarb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jesus was fine, or the story of Jesus at least, if he existed he would be vastly different than common portrayal of him, but the Jesus archetype is about the only good thing the Bible has going for it. Little else in the Bible can be viewed as moral, including God, who is one of the most twisted creations of the human mind to ever come to be, and represents the worst of a culture far inferior to our own in acting in a non-violent manner.
Before Christians start questioning our morals, perhaps they should read their holy texts.
2007-10-17 10:47:39 · answer #5 · answered by Jett 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
We should all, believers and non, do what is right simply because it is the right thing to do. I do not believe in "fearing God," that is a mistranslation of Hebrew like a lot of the other material in the Bible. That is why people shouldn't base their faith on what it says in a book written by men...only draw inspiration from life and then look within for the truth.
2007-10-17 10:47:18 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think "Skydaddy" needs to be recorded in a tome somewhere for posterity's sake. It made me lol :)
When I was young, I heard the term "God-fearing Christian" on the radio. I didn't understand what that meant, because I had always thought God was a pretty chillz guy. All that love and forgiveness and whatnot. About a year later, I finally understood that Christian God is actually quite ferocious.
It's unfair to say that Christian's don't have "real" morals...but I think it's an interesting point that humans are just as capable of morality without a punishment system to enforce it.
2007-10-17 10:44:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 5⤋
Well honestly Christians and atheists alike do the right things and they do the wrong things for the same reasons. The reason? We're human. I prefer all do the right things and frankly I don't care what pushes them to do so. More moral? Whatever gets you through the day!!!!
2007-10-17 10:48:28 · answer #8 · answered by zp055att 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
some philosopher said that if morals were motivated by empathy, they were better than those motivated by pure cognitive function. but yes, morals, when not included with the fear of the skydaddy (lol!) are probably a bit purer.
2007-10-17 10:48:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I was moral before I became a "christian"
I still am moral even though I claim no religion right now.
2007-10-17 10:45:40 · answer #10 · answered by tightest embrace 0:) 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, it doesn't.
I am a Christian, but I do the right thing for several reasons: I want to. It is the right thing to do. It pleases God.
You have the wrong idea when you say that we do the right thing because we "fear an eternal spanking" from "the skydaddy." We do not "fear" punishment.
That statement alone proves that you do not know much about Christianity.
Calling God a "skydaddy" is rather rude and disrespectful.
Can you please refer to Him as God? That would be kind as well as respectul.
IMO, someone who has good morals would not show disrespect to anyone by calling God a "skydaddy."
You have got to know that it's not nice to do that.
2007-10-17 10:47:54 · answer #11 · answered by batgirl2good 7 · 4⤊ 5⤋