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The fundamental moral principles of religions like Christianity, and also many others, are things like: everyone is born with equal rights; treat others as you

by Dove 14y ago

The fundamental moral principles of religions like Christianity, and also many others, are things like: everyone is born with equal rights; treat others as you would treat yourself; try to alleviate the suffering of others. This is projection. Secular thinkers conceive of ethics relationally. Kant's categorical imperative. The harm principle. It's all about how you affect other people -- you shouldn't do them harm, and perhaps on a good day, you should do them good. Beyond that, who cares? This isn't a Christian way of thinking, though. To a Christian, the object of central importance is God. How he views things. How your actions show your love for him. The pursuit of righteousness, for its own sake, because it is important to Him. This is not just my opinion, by the way. A central prayer in Judaism is the Shema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shema_Yisrael http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shema_Yisrael): "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one,". And Jesus affirms this as the central and most important command, and expands it (Mk 12:19): "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." The central commands of both religions don't say a thing about other people. There are a lot of external, moral things we agree upon. But consider, for a moment, even the most famous set of rules, the ten commandments: 1. You shall have no other Gods 2. You shall make no artwork to be used as an idol 3. You shall not misuse God's name 4. You shall rest on the seventh day 5. Honor your father and mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not give false legal testimony 10. You shall not be jealous of your neighbor's things Think about those for a second. The secularist is right there with us on 6, 7, 8, and 9. Those are external, measurable, harm-related. But look at the rest of them! 1, 5 and 10 are purely internal; thought crimes, if you will. 2 and 3 are purely religious -- who are you hurting exactly if you break these? -- and 4 sounds like a good idea, but making it a commandment that bears the death penalty seems rather like overkill. Is it that Christians are dumb for thinking these are important? No, it's that we think about ethics differently than you. To suppose Christianity approaches ethics like a secularist is to seriously misunderstand Christianity, and to project your own way of thinking onto it.

lotharbot 14y ago
To expand: in Hebrew and Christian scripture, marriage is used as an analogy for God. For example, the creation story says humanity is created "in the image of God, male and female". God is said to be the husband of Israel; Hosea and others liken Israel to a prostitute or an unfaithful wife. The church is called "the bride of Christ". Thus, sexual ethics tie directly into core tenets of Judeo-Christian doctrine relating to who God is and how God relates to humanity. Concepts like faithfulness, self-sacrifice, love, authenticity, exclusivity, the joining of two different beings into one coherent whole, and commitment are reflected in both Theology and sexual ethics. This is communicated in Jewish and Christian scripture, and in the writings of Jewish and Christian scholars throughout history. There are components of Jewish and Christian sexual ethics that can be thought of in terms of harm (cheating on your spouse can harm them emotionally, or physically through STDs), but for the most part it's more appropriate to think in terms of a reflection of God's nature and interaction with humans. For someone whose education in ethics is limited to harm, it can be difficult to see how ethical systems could be built around other concepts, but once you grasp the basic philosophical core, it's pretty straightforward to see how sexual ethics fit.
rmc 14y ago
4 sounds like a good idea, but making it a commandment that bears the death penalty seems rather like overkill. I always counted 4 (rest on sabbath) to be a religious order. Don't do work on the weekly holy day.

by Dove 14y ago

lotharbot 14y ago

To expand: in Hebrew and Christian scripture, marriage is used as an analogy for God. For example, the creation story says humanity is created "in the image of God, male and female". God is said to be the husband of Israel; Hosea and others liken Israel to a prostitute or an unfaithful wife. The church is called "the bride of Christ". Thus, sexual ethics tie directly into core tenets of Judeo-Christian doctrine relating to who God is and how God relates to humanity. Concepts like faithfulness, self-sacrifice, love, authenticity, exclusivity, the joining of two different beings into one coherent whole, and commitment are reflected in both Theology and sexual ethics. This is communicated in Jewish and Christian scripture, and in the writings of Jewish and Christian scholars throughout history. There are components of Jewish and Christian sexual ethics that can be thought of in terms of harm (cheating on your spouse can harm them emotionally, or physically through STDs), but for the most part it's more appropriate to think in terms of a reflection of God's nature and interaction with humans. For someone whose education in ethics is limited to harm, it can be difficult to see how ethical systems could be built around other concepts, but once you grasp the basic philosophical core, it's pretty straightforward to see how sexual ethics fit.

rmc 14y ago

4 sounds like a good idea, but making it a commandment that bears the death penalty seems rather like overkill. I always counted 4 (rest on sabbath) to be a religious order. Don't do work on the weekly holy day.