Quote (Impose @ Dec 14 2016 03:12pm)
The period of time before organized religion? Anything pre Judaism really.
Does religion tell you to do good things for other people? Yes. That doesn't mean you have a monopoly on doing good for others.
What happens if people do not follow religion and have nobody telling them to do good things? Once again you make the mistake, like so many religious individuals, that without religion you cannot have morality. The human race had morality and law pre religion. it will have it post religion as well.
Won't they eventually fall into despair or do many evil things? Simply put, no. The human race is capable of enough evil things, religion has no bearing on that.
Why do I care so much what you believe? I care because I do not view religion as a positive force in the world. And every single person who believes in it is capable of brainwashing children at a young age into believing things that are simply not true. It teaches them to be content with being told what to do. To obey. Various other things.
Why do you care so much about religion that you think it should be wiped off the face of the Earth if you don't believe in the afterlife? The first part of the question doesn't have anything to do with the second. I just answered the first part. The second part has nothing to do with the it.
What makes you keep coming back here and replying to me? I enjoy discussions. Sharing ideas. It's not a hostile argument, so I see no reason to not engage in it. I haven't been surprised by anything a Christian has said in a while but perhaps you may have a viewpoint different of others I have discussed things of this nature with. Who knows?
I'll assume that pre Judaism is before the time when God made a call to Abram who would eventually become Abraham. This can be found in the early chapters in Genesis.
So if we read The Bible up to that point in time we can see two stand out stories of men. The first story is the great flood which wiped out the Earth. God saw the wickedness of the people and sent a great flood because of the wickedness. This is before the religion came in. Next we see the Tower of Babel where everybody spoke one language and built a tower that would reach the Heavens in order to make a name for themselves. So even before Judaism the people were wicked and selfish. Nothing has changed since then, the heart is still evil.
Do you know why we don't have a monopoly for doing good with others? It is because the human heart is wicked and sinful.
Ahh, the basic moral of knowing what is good and what is evil. Where do you get this idea that there is good and evil in the first place? Even without the law you instinctively know the definition of good and evil. This happened when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge.
You can see that the world is in utter darkness and in chaos. You can see all the wars that are taking place, you can see all the wickedness and selfishness of people. I can say from experience that when somebody does a great achievement the most you will get is a 'congratulations' or people with envy. It all amounts to nothing.
Once again you are wrong that people don't fall into despair. I have seen it from experience. I have seen it when somebody loses all hope because life is hard and tough. They have lost everything and have become desperate. They will resort to doing evil things to help themselves. I asked you this question because I have seen it happen.
Funny you should say that. I believe the exact same thing. Religion is not a positive force in the world. Religion is all based on works to earn salvation. When I speak to some Christians they say that Christianity is NOT a religion. Instead, Christianity is a relationship with God and I, nothing more and nothing less.
Now with the brainwashing part I can see how religion does that. This is what you are to do every day and you shall not question it, nor shall you think for yourself.
When it comes to Christianity I would most certainly encourage people to question The Bible and challenge what it says. Do your own investigation and come up with your own conclusion, do not be satisfied with the answer. Whatever you do, do NOT take the word at face value. Go to Bible Study and analyse the text, think for yourself and consult with other people. Did the Universe really get created in seven days? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Challenge it, ask the hard questions. I view this method as much more effective because what happens is this: You have done your own investigation and challenged the word. The word in turn had to reply and it had given an answer which made logical sense.
Now when you get challenged you can speak from experience and from your own investigation that you can vouch that what it says is true. Compare that with brainwashing, I have seen when other people get stumped and don't have an answer when they get challenged. They resort to anger or to change the subject to something different entirely.
Fair enough.
I do enjoy these discussions as well. All I do is tell you what I believe. When I go to tell you what I believe I am prepared to go all the way. Sometimes I will quote Bible verses and sometimes I will give you my thoughts. I can tell you why I believe in the things that I believe. I can tell you what my life was like before I was a Christian and what it is like now that I am a christian. Everything I say and do is based on what I believe because that is who I choose to be.
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