|
This argument is interesting in an intellectual way, but very one sided. I'm trying to phrase this without being offensive, but it's difficult. It seems that what the question really boils down to is "Why would you treat others well if you're not going to be punished by god?" Completely aside from acts like murder and theft, which society will punish you for, actions like knocking an ice cream cone out of someone's hand, to borrow an earlier example, are pretty much universally accepted as wrong. So why wouldn't I do that? Well, physically, I run the risk of a beating. Good reason not to do it. There's more to it, though, because there are plenty of people that aren't phsyically intimidating to me, so I can treat them any way I want with little fear of physical retribution. However, I treat everyone well (mostly. I'm no saint) because A)I want to be treated the same way. B)My parents and family have always treated me well, and treated other people well, and I've learned from their example. Other factors may come into play as well, but these are the main reasons that drive me in my day to day life. God isn't even a consideration.
My question to the religous people is this - Is fear of god the only reason you behave morally? And if you believe that god has instilled us all with instinctive morality, how do you explain human propensity for cruelty? What about the differences in morality from culture to culture? Many core morals stay the same - don't kill, don't steal, treat each other well, etc, but things such as polygamy, sexual practices and numerous others vary widely.
|