Your child is very young and it is difficult to explain death to them. My grandmother died when I was 12, and my mother told me Granny was watching me all the time and was with me. I didn't know Granny very well, but she was terrifying and the thought of her watching everything I did was very disconcerting and upsetting. My own children had pets, fish and hamsters which didn't live very long. Though they were heartbroken when the pets died, they learnt to appreciate that not everyone and everything lasts for ever. When their young cousin died, it was very hard for them to take, and it was easier to say their cousin was with the angels and had become one.
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GOD: How much do you believe in him?
- Thread starter El Presidente
- Start date
Your child is very young and it is difficult to explain death to them. My grandmother died when I was 12, and my mother told me Granny was watching me all the time and was with me. I didn't know Granny very well, but she was terrifying and the thought of her watching everything I did was very disconcerting and upsetting. My own children had pets, fish and hamsters which didn't live very long. Though they were heartbroken when the pets died, they learnt to appreciate that not everyone and everything lasts for ever. When their young cousin died, it was very hard for them to take, and it was easier to say their cousin was with the angels and had become one.
We are born with the instinct to live and procreate, we're not born with morals. Our morals are based on our society, which is why it's so easy to bring children up with what many of us would consider a lack of morals. Civilisation itself is pretty new for man, we spent most of our time as hunter gatherers, and our morals would have been quite different.
Spot on, Commander!
That's my point.
I agree. But do you not accept the existence of the human conscience?
I know.
I never said they started with 'Christianity'.
If you're asking me whether i think a man called adam and a woman called eve suddenly appeared in a garden then the answer is obviously no.
Sure, we have more ability than other animals to have morals.
I don't believe human beings were pre-programmed to be moral, moreover it was conditioned. I wouldn't say we're a very moral society even now.
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
You insinuate it pretty heavily. Your argument certainly is that religion is responsible for the establishment of these morals, which I'd say is the wrong way round - religion was used to enforce morals that were already present in society. Which is why, for example, we go along with some of them ('no murder', etc) but leave others ('getting bears to maul people who insult us', etc); our society evolves over time and our 'morals' do similarly. To me the Bible simply represents the 'moral' feelings of the time at which it was written.
Mr Burns
New member
Another trick of this poster. Answer a question that was never asked. Saves having to answer the one you don't want to, or can't answer.
So are you saying there are lies in the Bible? I thought it was the word of God?
Mr Burns
New member
That's been covered. I think everyone accepts, that it is impossible to prove something that doesn't exist, doesn't exist. We had pages and pages on it earlier on.
But I know for a fact you are wrong
171 or 31 people have got it right, unless he/it does and does not exist. Cue Hovergirl..........
Christianity started when Christ died in approx 30AD. The ten commandments are way before he existed. And i'm not saying religion gave us our morals either. I believe before there were any of the contemporary religions, that god was at work on us, setting us apart from everything else.
That's been covered. I think everyone accepts, that it is impossible to prove something that doesn't exist, doesn't exist. We had pages and pages on it earlier on.
But I know for a fact you are wrong
I did qualify my post by saying I hadn't read through all the pages, so I'm not surprised it has already been covered.
But no, 171 people or 31 people haven't got it right, because the options weren't 'yes there is a God' or ' no there isn't a God', those people have stated that they know for a FACT that there is or isn't a God. They don't. FACT.
For the reader to interpret themselves. To use their imagination.
I know for a fact he exists, in FACT he's with me right now.
sten_super
Brain Surgeon
Why did you change my 'mauling bears' example? You liked that parable earlier. Your examples are wrong - those are still things which are morally reprehensible to society, my point was that some things that are done/said as being morally correct in the Bible are no longer considered so. One example might be stoning.
Incidentally, I'm glad we agree that morals pre-date religion. That seems a shift from your earlier position that religions dictate morals to us.
Quote Originally Posted by HovaGirl View Post
But do you not accept the existence of the human conscience?
Obviously. We make rules and punish people when they disobey them, generally, for the good of society.
Do you accept the existence of the human conscience?
But do you not accept the existence of the human conscience?
Obviously. We make rules and punish people when they disobey them, generally, for the good of society.
Do you accept the existence of the human conscience?