Quote:
Originally posted by 3leggedfrog
Another problem is forgiveness. Christianity are told to forgive everyone. For an example forgive thy neighbor and forgive him his trespasses. what happens if this person is not Catholic? this person is already going to hell why should we forgive them? another example is if the time comes when it is too dangerous to have a criminal around say a rapist murder who if given a chance will commit his crimes again they quote an Old Testament verse eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In modern times this means kill the bastard but humanely. Do you really forgive him if you kill him?
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Christianity in its present state may have to rely on dogma in many ways, but I don't think forgiveness is a significant example.
We should forgive others, no matter what their creed, because we were given forgiveness by Christ... though we are all sinners. Religion has no bearing on the usefulness (and mandate) of forgiving your fellow man. If Christ offers complete remission of sin no matter the severity, we should definitely forgive those who chose/were born into a different religion. In short, the example of Christ shows that we have no leverage over our fellow man because our debt has been paid in full by Christ's sacrifice.
In response to the final wrinkle you placed in your argument, I think there is a definite distinction between forgiving someone and having no consequences for actions.
Sorry I could only to respond to just a portion of your post. Thanks for putting all that together, seemed like an intellectually honest approach to things.