Quote:
Originally Posted by Zaqarbal
It depends on why you do that. I think there are three possible causes:
- Bucause you honestly think it's the right thing. That is, due to a sincere own moral conviction.
- Just because it's an order. A supposed order dictated by a supposed god through a supposed prophet (a goathers-village's local boss, a carpenter's hippie son in the Middle-East, an Arab syphilitic cameller, etc...) in a supposed certain way.
- A kind of "intermediate way": the neurotic (or hypocrite) way. You actually behave as you want, but using a self-deception as an alibi. That is, you like to think you do things because you follow religious commandments, although deep in your mind you know that's not true. Catholic priests call this way scholastic, but it's actually the same thing with a politically-correct name.
I support the principles of Liberal Democracy (those from Enlightment to the present). Therefore, I defend freedom of cult and freedom of expression. However, if someone ask me what is more desirable or preferable to me, my opinion is: I wouldn't like to live in a society where people just obey orders, as if they were robots, or expected an afterlife reward. Because as Goya said (and painted): The sleep of reason produces monsters. And neither I like hypocrisy.
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The only one that's relevant is the first one, imo. Although I didn't really get what you're getting at by the third one. Sounds the same as the second.
But that doesn't mean to say it has to be independtly formed. If you read it somewhere, for argument's sake the Bible, you could then say, "This makes sense to me, I believe it's right so I'll apply it"
Because a "carpenter's son" said it does it make it any less applicable? Doesn't matter who says it, what matters is what's said. He's a prophet in my eyes because of the things he said and did. Not the other way around.