Religion: pros & cons (Religion)

by dhw, Tuesday, September 16, 2014, 13:06 (3719 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

TONY: You insist, and have done repeatedly, that God should act like a Djinn, twiddling his nose and clapping his hands to make everything *poof* into existence just so.
 
I have never done so. See my answer on the thread “Evolution v Creationism”. I have also tried to cover purpose and the Master Chef on that thread. -DHW: [...]Humans can lead moral lives without God, because there is enormous satisfaction and happiness to be gained from doing as you would be done by. Love and empathy are not confined to the religious. And I'm sorry to say, self-centredness is not confined to the irreligious.-TONY: You might be surprised, but I don't necessarily disagree with this. Serving God the way he asked to be served DOES bring comfort, security, morality, and charity. And yes, self-serving individuals, regardless of their religious affiliation or belief in God DO cause sectarian violence, fear, pain, and death. And no, it is not God's fault. If you would, take a minute to read Job 2:1-4, 1 John 3:15, and Mathew 4:8-9 (It really doesn't matter which version of the bible you have). It is hard to discuss religion and beliefs without sharing literature, just as difficult as it is to share scientific views without reading the articles we share with each other. The latter two tell who is currently ruling the earth, Job explains why. Romans 2:14-15 supports your statement that "Humans can lead moral lives without God, because there is enormous satisfaction and happiness to be gained from doing as you would be done by. Love and empathy are not confined to the religious." Though, I might alter it to state "Humans can lead moral lives without religion.." -I didn't think there would be much for you to disagree with. What I have written is only an attempt to redress what I felt was an imbalance in your earlier statement, and despite all our disagreements over evolution, religion, God's existence, nature and motives etc., I feel very strongly that we share the same humanitarian values. One of the great pleasures I've derived from this website is the bond created between people genuinely searching for explanations - a bond that was epitomized by David's unforgettable trip to England. Even though we still fight like cat and dog! -Re the references to Job, John and Matthew, I didn't realize you believed in Satan. I just remember you not believing in hell. I see no reason at all to believe in Satan, let alone that he is currently ruling the earth. Humans are doing that, with the inevitable mixture of good and bad, love and hate, beauty and ugliness with which Nature or your God has endowed them. Incidentally, I seem to remember we also had a major disagreement over the story of Job, from which I feel your God comes out very badly! But as David always reminds us, even theists need to remember that the Bible was written by various fallible humans, and in most cases we can't tell fiction from fact.