Originally Posted by December Rock Star
I dont think you need religion or God to know right from wrong, because the law of the land is based on the same premise.

Thou shalt not steal...Steal and you go to Jail
Thou shalt not kill...Kill and you go to Jail

and people can be good people and be atheists, I know several who laugh at the idea of going to church and they are basically good people.

It's instinctive to be good to people, our parents teach us dont be rude, dont walk away from that person, shake their hand etc, they usually dont say "god wants you to be nice" they just say "be nice"

It's just basic living.

If you kiss peoples ass, usually you get your ass kissed back.
If you are a jerk to people you will be treated like a jerk.

It's just how we interact.

To me religion and spirituality is something that teaches about later on down the road.



But John is just saying that you can't disown your genes, and your limbic brain, and your culture. John V makes a good point when he says that we are so immersed in this, that we can't see it, and have the quite ironic notion to think that "right and wrong" is something that precedes any cultural programing or genetics or ancestral memory.

It's like arguing that there is no air, simply because we can't see it.

However, it certainly feels like "right and wrong" are things we just know--that we know innately...But maybe that's a little naive, because it is impossible to be able to separate all the baggage and stuff that goes into making us who we are, in this very moment. Are we not the sum of everything we have experienced up to this point? You and Jim sound a little like you guys are "standing outside of time" looking in, with no cultural or genetic heritage that informs and permeates how you think.

I still would suggest taking "god" out of the equation, since there can be no agreement here. Why not make the dialogue simple about whether or not we need RELIGION to know the difference between right and wrong. THAT is a much more winning argument, I think. smile


Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 04/13/12 06:10 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)