At the moment someone comes in to murder your family no law exists at all, and the community can't get there in time to do any real good for you.
I don't believe in objective morality so I have no concept of moral authority or moral wrong. Its the same strange authority that you think you have for keeping people out of your country, or a massive plot of land that a bunch of people claim, despite most of it being uncultivated. I am part of a group of people claim a plot of land, we collectively pay for an army and establish rules that work out for our common good. If you fight us, prepare to face gunfire, Go America.
How would we know there is no heaven? I'm more of a non-theist, so I can't really answer the question. However, I do think fear is one of the biggest reasons people claim to be religious, even if they would never admit it.
I can't believe there are people who want to take away our ability to defend ourselves from criminals and government oppression.
If you want to keep murderers in jail strictly out of your preference. Yep that makes you a totalitarian. What if you exchange the word murderer for jew. Would you feel differently about it? If there is no moral authority aren't murderers and jews just two groups of people no real difference between them. You just prefer jews over murderers?
Yes. The teachings of Jesus (Love thy neighbor, 'golden rule', etc) are foundational to building our own Heaven.
You are simply mixing moral authority with religious moral authority. I've no doubt you think it's moral to condemn 2 men/women living together. Under what moral standards? Biblical? Personally I don't understand the way of life but they have only one life to lead - just as you. Let them live out their lives happily. With regards to morality they are probably more moral in human terms, than you.
i don't condemn anyone. i have always believed and said people are free to live however they want. i think it's morally wrong but it's also none of my business until they make it my business. believing a persons behavior is wrong is not the same as condemnation over that behavior.. My whole point is this. If there is no higher being than man then there is no such thing as morality and therefore no legitimate basis for any laws.
Totalitarian means: "relating to a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state." Wanting to put baby rapists behind bars doesn't conform to this definition. Totalitarians is complete control of the state over its subjects and the subjects having no say in what happens. There is no objective morality, so there is no such thing as a moral difference at all between any group. However murderers are a threat to me and those I love, while Jews have done amazing things for me and my society.
Imo, your thought are the result of centuries of evolution of religion. If you go back to what jesus actually emphasized in his teaching....he basically taught us to follow the jewish law, and hang on until he returned to our mutual glory. Pretty much everything was dependent upon an apocalyptic end of times (not unlike teachings of John the Baptist). Heaven and hell were contextualized in relation to those apocalyptic teachings.... not in terms of some better life here on earth
In a literal interpretation, yes. I don't subscribe to Biblical Literalism. Aiui, most Christians dont. The Bible doesn't work when taken literally from cover to cover. Much of it is allegorgical. Prophesizing the 'end times' of a technologically and sociologically 'modern' society in terms that people 1000 years ago, today and possibly 1000 years from now could all relate to logically necessitates this.
Then you admit your morality is different to their morality. After all, if you are proclaiming Christianity then you are condemning them.
No, that's incorrect. There is no such thing as different morality. There is morality and immortality as defined by God, not men
Threats are bad for me because they can give me pain. Jews have invented many things that improve my quality of life. Emotions and sensations of pain and pleasure are the only real objective things there are that can logically motivate actions.
You've simply got a one-track mind. Athiests/agnostics don't need a god to tell them how to behave. If the Bible is anything to go on then 'gods' morals are less than to be desired. Killing innocent peoples and children. How does proclaiming Christianity 'condemn' anyone? The woman taken in adultery is often used for not condemning sinners.Jesus said to her 'neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more' In truth the final 'go and sin no more' is condemnation itself. It acknowledges she has sinned, but is forgiven.
So since nobody can actually demonstrate the existance of any god whatsoever I guess there has never been any actual justification for any laws. And as a corollary I guess non religious nations never have laws.
If we didn't feel, we would be like robots. There would be no point to living, no purpose to anything, no point to do anything. If I didn't feel anything, I wouldn't see any point or difference between living and non-living, between living in wealth, and living in poverty, or living with friends, and living alone. Everything you do is at some point motivated by an emotion or sense. I go to work. Why? Because having no money means I am homeless and I will have to weather the elements. I won't have the comforts afforded by money. Also, having money gives me a feeling of success and status. Many of us get a sense of purpose from working. I live and protect my life from death. Why? Because death and dying is painful. Because I am afraid of the pain my death will cause my loved ones and people who depend on me. There are positive things I still want to do and experience in my life. I have this underlying instinct that fears death and fights for survival coded by evolution. We have laws because emotions and senses give us something to fight for, give us a purpose. With emotions and senses there are things that are positive and make us happy and negative and make us unhappy. We band together in groups to work together to maximize the positive and minimize the negative. We make rules to try to maximize the common happiness and welfare of society.
