If there is no punishment for sin from God after a man dies, and the only judgment one will see is that of the court system if caught, why live a moral life? Why not go rape, loot, pillage and rape? You said rape twice. I know, but I really like rape. (Blazing Saddles) Remember the Zodiac killer. Since he was never captured, he would never be punished for killing all those people. If when I die I will not face any judgment or punishment for sin, I should be having a drug induced, hedonistic orgy every night. And if someone says I shouldn't do that, beat the crap out of them. Hey if I don't get caught by the police, or if I do, hire a great lawyer who gets me off on some Twinkie defense, then why care? If once I die there is no God and it's all over, I am wasting my time as a Christian. Or as Paul put it to the believers in his letter to the Colossians "we are to be pitied more than all men". Vince
Why live a moral life?
Started by Vince, 05/04/2004 08:57PM
Posted 05/04/2004 08:57PM
Opening Post
Posted 05/04/2004 09:08PM
#1
If all your sins have been forgiven via sacrifice 2000 years ago, why live a moral life? If you're Christian you're an automatic shoo-in for Heaven no matter what you do, right? So why not just do what you want?
Or, conversely, if everyone falls short in God's eyes, then why bother trying?
Or, conversely, if everyone falls short in God's eyes, then why bother trying?
Posted 05/04/2004 09:26PM
#2
>>If when I die I will not face any judgment or punishment for sin, I should be having a drug induced, hedonistic orgy every night. And if someone says I shouldn't do that, beat the crap out of them.<<
...and if they're bigger than you...?
BTW, show me one single study that shows that a life of violent crime and drug abuse leads to long-term happiness.
...and if they're bigger than you...?
BTW, show me one single study that shows that a life of violent crime and drug abuse leads to long-term happiness.
Posted 05/04/2004 09:31PM
#3
>>Remember the Zodiac killer. Since he was never captured, he would never be punished for killing all those people.<<
And if he believed in Christ, then he would not be punished in the afterlife either, would he?
And if he believed in Christ, then he would not be punished in the afterlife either, would he?
Posted 05/04/2004 09:50PM
#4
>>Why not go rape, loot, pillage and rape?<<
Let's take them one by one:
Why not rape? Uh, because it would be going to an extraordinary amount of work and effort to get something (sex) that is freely given.
Why not loot? Because it would mean working a lot of nights, which would cut seriously into time allotted for astronomy, sex & sleep.
Why not pillage? If I had a longboat and a some friends named Thor & Olaf with swords, shields and horned hats this one might be fun. But since I don't, I'll give it a miss.
Let's take them one by one:
Why not rape? Uh, because it would be going to an extraordinary amount of work and effort to get something (sex) that is freely given.
Why not loot? Because it would mean working a lot of nights, which would cut seriously into time allotted for astronomy, sex & sleep.
Why not pillage? If I had a longboat and a some friends named Thor & Olaf with swords, shields and horned hats this one might be fun. But since I don't, I'll give it a miss.
Posted 05/05/2004 05:15AM
#5
To get back to the original question. In a series of semi-serious posts, the point I am ultimately getting to is this: people lead (or attempt to lead) moral lives, religious or not, for the same reason they choose their particular religion -- to be afforded the privilege of belonging to the society at large (do you really think it's just coincidence that you belong to the same religion as everyone around you?). We are social creatures and thousands of years of civilization has conditioned us to accept that reality and behave accordingly. This behavior is called living a 'moral' life.
If you do NOT behave accordingly, you get removed from society. You go to prison, or you eke out an existence in a gutter criminal sub-society devoid of the stable relationships that the population at large enjoys. Odds are pretty good that eventually you will be killed, either by yourself, a rival criminal, a rival gang, an unexpectedly-armed victim, a police officer, etc. You can expect a relatively short life in any case.
What I'm getting at is, the lives of criminals and drug addicts are not nearly as fun and hunky-dory as you paint them to be.
If you do NOT behave accordingly, you get removed from society. You go to prison, or you eke out an existence in a gutter criminal sub-society devoid of the stable relationships that the population at large enjoys. Odds are pretty good that eventually you will be killed, either by yourself, a rival criminal, a rival gang, an unexpectedly-armed victim, a police officer, etc. You can expect a relatively short life in any case.
What I'm getting at is, the lives of criminals and drug addicts are not nearly as fun and hunky-dory as you paint them to be.
Posted 05/05/2004 07:23PM
#6
"If there is no punishment for sin from God after a man dies, and the only judgment one will see is that of the court system if caught, why live a moral life?....."
Why do mother animals care for their young? They have no God and no thought of an afterlife. Your question if valid but perhaps the question is actually a different one. Maybe we should ask, "Why does there seem to be an innate desire to care, not only for life, but for the planet and even immaterial things?" It seems evident that animals and primitive man had a sense of morals well before the appearance of Jesus or any surviving religions.
Just because a man does not perceive a reward or punishment after death does not automatically follow that the "golden rule" has no intrinsic value. Perhaps the better question is why are moral values basically intrinsic in higher and many lower life forms. While religion plays on these values I do not believe it is the source. We care because we do. Why?
Daryl
Why do mother animals care for their young? They have no God and no thought of an afterlife. Your question if valid but perhaps the question is actually a different one. Maybe we should ask, "Why does there seem to be an innate desire to care, not only for life, but for the planet and even immaterial things?" It seems evident that animals and primitive man had a sense of morals well before the appearance of Jesus or any surviving religions.
Just because a man does not perceive a reward or punishment after death does not automatically follow that the "golden rule" has no intrinsic value. Perhaps the better question is why are moral values basically intrinsic in higher and many lower life forms. While religion plays on these values I do not believe it is the source. We care because we do. Why?
Daryl
Funding Member
