While it is certainly good and well that many follow God's words and teaching and use them to guide their lives, God saying that you shouldn't kill someone isn't exactly the best reason to not kill someone. Someone should not have to be explicitly told that killing someone is morally wrong in order for them to understand that. While you can certainly use religious teachings to form the bases of your morals, you shouldn't be totally dependent on religion to tell you what's right and wrong - that's where judgement, logic, and common sense come in handy.
The comedian Bo Burnham created a comedy song referred to as "From God's Perspective" in which he serenades the listener with God's thoughts and observations. One verse from the song goes as follows: "You shouldn't abstain from rape just 'cause you think that I want you to, You shouldn't rape 'cause rape is a f***** up thing to do, (Pretty obvious, just don't f****** rape people, please, didn't think I had to write that one down for you)." In this verse, Burnham encapsulates the idea I am presenting, that some moral quandaries should be obvious and should not need to be answered by a supreme being who supposedly knows more than we do. Each person is responsible for their own moral guidelines and should live life according to what they think is right, and if they think a vast being's rules are what's right, so be it, but they should be able to tell the difference between what humanity considers 'right' and 'wrong' on their own, especially when it comes to cases like murder and the like.
I agree. It does seem to me that most modern day Christians are leaning more towards using the scriptures and stuff as a kind of backbone to support all of their moral beliefs, rather than strictly interpreting them as the exact guidelines of how to live. I think this is because as society progresses, they have to learn to reconcile their beliefs with those of everyone else they encounter. Like the Pope, he seems like a pretty cool dude
ReplyDeleteYou are entirely correct. Religion should not be the sole source for an individuals reasoning behind being moral. Sadly, however, if it were not for religious guidelines the world would be a much worse place. I myself am not religious, but many people would feel no remorse in doing terrible deeds if it were not for the fear of being judged by a higher deity.
ReplyDeleteThis is so crazy right I want to put this on blast in Time's Square for the world to see. In our world, no one can think for themselves anymore without a rule or other person to fall back on. Too many people only do things because they are told to. I really feel like some, not all please don't every jump me for this, Christians and other religious peoples would do horribly things simply if the Bible or other religious work told them too, and that's a sad fate for our world.
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