Reply to: The penny has dropped

Re: well, we fear those things

That could be the new corporate slogan for the Home Office.

I never claimed it was *all* my own work!

Re: well, we fear those things

"Be good, or else!"

That could be the new corporate slogan for the Home Office.

Re: well, we fear those things

Holy Bible - Spod's Version

"Be good, or else!"

Re: well, we fear those things

Being nice to people is certainly a good start

That's this board buggered then.

Re: well, we fear those things

but maybe in a different world we could conceive of different motivations

Maybe, but that's a highly academic point.

I feel we have to make the most of what we have with this world. Being nice to people is certainly a good start and, maybe for some or even many people, the threat of eternal torment is what is required to achieve this.

Re: well, we fear those things

'well, 3 score and 10 and i'm out of it. how can i help while i'm here?'

You don't have to be religious to feel that way!

lb -

most of us need that little bit of selfishness to get going in the first place - in the world we have made for ourselves, yes, that is probably largely true. but maybe in a different world we could conceive of different motivations?

well, we fear those things

which we consider to be capable of having a significant impact on our lives. if you have no belief in a creator you will have no reason to fear one.
is it 'well, 3 score and 10 and i'm out of it. what's in it for me then?' or is it 'well, 3 score and 10 and i'm out of it. how can i help while i'm here?' or is it somewhere in between? i find it impossible to get to that position although i have often tried. curious...

Re: wow, this thread is moving too fast

OK, it is not the fear of an almighty being that prevents me from cleaving some irritating little bastards skull in two, it is the fear of something more substantial, the penalty for breaking the law! Law which is enforced by the police, not a band of religious zealots!

Mind you James Anderton was a religious nutter - I met him at my Dads retirement "do", a very strange chap indeed!

Re: wow, this thread is moving too fast

when you feel valued and when you are making a valid contribution?

Of course, but most of us need that little bit of selfishness to get going in the first place. I'm not saying there aren't totally selfless people who assess every action they take based on its impact on those around them, but what I am saying is that if we were all like that, our level of achievement as a species would probably not be what it is today.

SP the assumption you keep making

is that Chico by dint of being a Christian is selfless and those of us who are not Christian are by default selfish. -

no snaw. the *statement* i am making is that we *all* are selfish.

wow, this thread is moving too fast

for me. need to start tagging the posts & replies.

Re: lb

SP the assumption you keep making is that Chico by dint of being a Christian is selfless and those of us who are not Christian are by default selfish.

I'd disagree completely. Being Christian imbues nothing more than a knowldge of your own superiority over the rest of us sinners in my experience of them.

Not being Christian, personally doesn't make me any less caring, considerate and moral than if I found Jesus tomorrow would change those attributes.

but do you not feel most motivated

when you feel valued and when you are making a valid contribution? surely the best of human activity is achieved in supportive, cooperative circumstances? activity which arises from confrontational stimuli is [nearly?] always reactionary and therefore probably not fully considered as a consequence.

Oi John

the·ol·o·gy (th-l-j)
n. pl. the·ol·o·gies
1. The study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions.
2. A system or school of opinions concerning God and religious questions: Protestant theology; Jewish theology.
3. A course of specialized religious study usually at a college or seminary.