Religion..

I know! For instance stoning to death adulterers and owning slaves might be thought of as wrong. Good thing we have religion to tell us..........ummmm, never mind.

 

Our laws in the U.S. are based on Judeo-Christian teachings. Would you rather have sharia law?

Personal values start somewhere and at the core is religious teaching.

Should a thief teach his children how to steal? Should a adulterer teach his children how to have infidelities?

 

I was always under the impression our laws were based on Natural Law. "Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness"...prove me wrong, please. I always want to learn. Not being sarcastic, really.

Good personal values are common sense.

Your last comment is clearly rhetorical, silly nevertheless. Natural Law defines morality and vice versa. We cannot force evil people to have good morals through religious teaching, can we?

I am not anti god, its just his fan club I often have issues with...its the hypocrisy I cannot stand.

The Golden Rule, rules.

 

Where to start?

The Golden Rule has it's origins in religion:

Ancient Egypt.- circa 2000 BCE “Do for one who may do for you, That you may cause him thus to do.” – The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 109-110,
Hebrew Bible – circa 700 BCE “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Zoroastrianism.- circa 600 BCE “That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self.” – Dadistan-i-Dinik 94:5,
Buddhism.- circa 500 BCE “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” – Udana-Varga 5:18,
Confucianism.- circa 500 BCE “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” Analects of Confucius 15:24,
Socrates.- circa 400 BCE “Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others.”
Matthew 7:12 - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" paraphrased

Basis of U.S./western law:

The Ten Commandments is a "moral" basis for the general legal order of the West. In this interpretation the Ten Commandments are treated as moral principles dictated by God and serving as the ethical foundation for all laws, even if they can't be traced directly back to any specific commandment. Thus, while most individual laws in America don't derive directly from the Ten Commandments, "the law" as a whole does and this deserves recognition.

Of course the above is part speculation as I don't think throughout history notes were made where the basis of the law originated. Atheists of course will argue the above is not true. If you do enough research and reading I think you will find that these statements are true.

There are also writings that say that God first placed his laws in the subconscious of man at birth. Then later as man developed the holy spirit was given to man to reinforce the laws of God. And, finally the Word of God was given to man as a written record of God's law through the Bible.

 

the biggest problem with religion is it discourages rational thinking and encourages willful ignorance. not a good combination in the information age.


Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
[Isaac Asimov]

 

Sow your $1,000 seed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M6jvgsNgC0

 

Slavery in the bible was not the same slavery we had in the US in the 1500-1800s. The bible is actually against that type of slavery.

As for Adulterers..Didnt Jesus forgive the woman for adultery when she was about to be stoned?

 

Did being forgiven stop the stoning?

If the Ayatollah were to forgive the woman for not wearing her proper attire, would that help her from being persecuted?

Forgiveness is great, for those doing the forgiving, giving them a false sense of either divinity or self adulation. Not so good for those being killed or otherwise persecuted.


c

 

No... in the story, guilt stopped the stoning. That is, guilt of previous "sin" that was based on prevalent religious belief. He said, "he who is without sin"... He did not say, "he who has never acted against social norms, cast the first stone".

It was all based on a religious understanding of right and wrong. Do you believe adultery is wrong?