I have heard many say that they are basically good people and believe that they are going to heaven but are not a member of a specific religion. The questions is:
What standard do you base your Good and Evil on? How do you know what makes you a good person?
If you say society, you must realize that most of our laws are based on Bible laws. Murder is wrong "Thou shalt not kill".
So what do you base your morals on if not some type of religion?
2007-02-22T09:18:37Z
"The "Golden Rule" seems to work well enough for me." The Golden Rule is from the Bible
No religions or cultures predate the creation. The knowledge of good and evil was introduced to the world in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve partook of the tree which they were commanded not to.
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:" Genesis 2:17
Prior to eating the fruit, Adam and Eve had no knowledge of what was good and evil other than what God told them not to do.
ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT••2007-02-22T08:50:05Z
Favorite Answer
I'm not going to "heaven". It doesn't exist.
Our laws aren't based on Biblical laws. The concept of valuing life and opposing physical violence has been around longer than Christianity and in many cultures and philosophies that Christianity didn't touch.
The answer to your question is really quit simple.
Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Or in other words Respect for the Individual.
A small child can come up with this concept all by its self when not taught religious flim flam. This simple beautifull concept has been around long before any organized religion. Why? Because it can make sense to anyone.
But wait.... What about masochists and strange people?
Think about it. A masochist wants to be treated the way he wants to be treated right? Then the masochist under the golden rule would recognize that other want to be treated as they want to be treated. If he respects the wishes of others , his chances that people will respect his wishes goes up.
THE GOLDEN RULE. Awesome... Please don't dilute it with your commandments and such. The golden rule already covers all of them.
well, good question. I can just say this. I am a good person because I do the right thing when I can, I encourage the best in people, I think of others feelings more often than not and if I don't it's probably because they didn't think of mine first. I can't even kill a spider anymore because it's done nothing wrong to me...therefor I scoop it up and put it outside. I try my best not to judge the book by it's cover or judge before I know someone. I try to give second chances. I forgive people for the wrong they do to me, it takes awhile but I try not to ever hold a grudge forever. That's only a few things I can think of right now.
First, it is very silly to say that the Bibe invented the idea that murder is bad. Those things you call "Bible Laws" have existed in one form or another everywhere, before the bible was written and in places that had never read the bible. For example, Japan's laws are basically the same as ours, but their laws far pre-date ours, and have nothing to do with Christianity.
Plus, if you are a Christian, you can spend your life killing, stealing, raping, and everything else, but you will supposedly go to heaven if you accept Christ as your savior on your deathbed.
The "Golden Rule" seems to work well enough for me.
You got something backwards. Society is not based on bible laws, bible laws are based on society. The more universal truths a religion can take and pretend to invent, the higher the following.
Conscience, I have a conscience, is that God talking to me? ok. If religion is the only thing keeping you in line you may be a sociopath.