Why would someone who doesn’t believe in sin carry an anti-war, anti-pollution or pro-peace sign? If war and other human oppression is just part of a larger “natural selection” process, why do such people consider themselves more righteous than many other people? If there is no evil, why is it considered morally “wrong” to harm and morally “right” to help our neighbor?
Why are Rosa Parks and Albert Schweitzer considered morally superior to Bonnie Parker and Adolf Hitler? Why would all four arise in the same “advanced” modern species? Why is it called “justice” when people imprison other people? Who gets to decide and, why?
If babies are born moral and pure, why do we need to be taught how to morally behave? Why is there a concept of “hatred”? If we change the word “sin” to “social maladjustment” or “seething mass within”, does it lessen the pain and suffering people inflict on other people? Does changing terminology change the reality of what men and women do?
Why do we lie to each other? Why are there laws against murder, theft and false witness? Why are there university ethics classes? Why don’t we automatically love our neighbor as ourselves? Why did we crucify our greatest moral teacher? Why do human oppression and civil rights movements exist? Why is there a song entitled “We Shall Overcome”? What is it we are trying to overcome?
If people are born morally “blank” with no predisposition towards evil, as Freud assumed, why are we so self-destructive? Why do we eat and drink what we believe is harmful? Why do we abuse both ourselves and other people, often in the face of severe social rejection, lengthy incarceration and even execution? Why is there a “Nobel Peace Prize”? Why are adults rewarded for behaving like we believe we all should behave?
Why is it so difficult to teach children to be what our conscience dictates as “good”, while they are what we consider “bad” quite easily on their own, without any parental reward and, often in spite of repeated punishment? If it’s against human rights to murder, steal and lie, why do we do so? If this is not against our reproductive survival, why are Jesus and Gandhi considered exceptional people?
After thousands of years of education to the contrary, why do even our most educated people continue to add to the pile of global mass pollution, bilk the common masses with complicated financial schemes and, continue to create horrific weapons, even after the horrific evidence of the Great Depression and WWII? Why didn’t an “Age of Enlightenment” result in peace on earth, instead of even worse wars?
According to modern science and the Bible, our underlying motivations are deceptive and often different than we perceive in our own conscious awareness. Is it true we “all have sinned” and fall short of moral perfection? Are people really sinners?
Richard Aberdeen's Blog
ARE PEOPLE REALLY SINNERS?
July 17, 2010Why would someone who doesn’t believe in sin carry an anti-war, anti-pollution or pro-peace sign? If war and other human oppression is just part of a larger “natural selection” process, why do such people consider themselves more righteous than many other people? If there is no evil, why is it considered morally “wrong” to harm and morally “right” to help our neighbor?
Why are Rosa Parks and Albert Schweitzer considered morally superior to Bonnie Parker and Adolf Hitler? Why would all four arise in the same “advanced” modern species? Why is it called “justice” when people imprison other people? Who gets to decide and, why?
If babies are born moral and pure, why do we need to be taught how to morally behave? Why is there a concept of “hatred”? If we change the word “sin” to “social maladjustment” or “seething mass within”, does it lessen the pain and suffering people inflict on other people? Does changing terminology change the reality of what men and women do?
Why do we lie to each other? Why are there laws against murder, theft and false witness? Why are there university ethics classes? Why don’t we automatically love our neighbor as ourselves? Why did we crucify our greatest moral teacher? Why do human oppression and civil rights movements exist? Why is there a song entitled “We Shall Overcome”? What is it we are trying to overcome?
If people are born morally “blank” with no predisposition towards evil, as Freud assumed, why are we so self-destructive? Why do we eat and drink what we believe is harmful? Why do we abuse both ourselves and other people, often in the face of severe social rejection, lengthy incarceration and even execution? Why is there a “Nobel Peace Prize”? Why are adults rewarded for behaving like we believe we all should behave?
Why is it so difficult to teach children to be what our conscience dictates as “good”, while they are what we consider “bad” quite easily on their own, without any parental reward and, often in spite of repeated punishment? If it’s against human rights to murder, steal and lie, why do we do so? If this is not against our reproductive survival, why are Jesus and Gandhi considered exceptional people?
After thousands of years of education to the contrary, why do even our most educated people continue to add to the pile of global mass pollution, bilk the common masses with complicated financial schemes and, continue to create horrific weapons, even after the horrific evidence of the Great Depression and WWII? Why didn’t an “Age of Enlightenment” result in peace on earth, instead of even worse wars?
According to modern science and the Bible, our underlying motivations are deceptive and often different than we perceive in our own conscious awareness. Is it true we “all have sinned” and fall short of moral perfection? Are people really sinners?
You decide.
Link to footnotes and documentation for this article
Music Video relating to this article:
Tags:advertising, agnostic, antiwar, appearance, atheist, beauty, behavior, Bible, blind sheep, Buddhism, Christ, civilization, comedy, commandments, Conservative, corporate, corporate branding, corruption, cosmetics, cultural, culture, deception, education, ethics, evil, globilization, God, good shepherd, History, human behavior, humanity, Isaiah, Islam, JC Penny, jeans, Jesus, jewelry, Jewish, Levi Strauss, Liberal, life, Media, Middle Ages, money, morality, Nirvana, pants, people, profit, Progressive, psychology, queens, radio, Religion, rightwing, Science, shallow, sheep, sin, sinners, surface, tattoos, television, War
Posted in ACLU, Agnosticism, America, Anti-war, Atheism, Behaviorial Science, behaviour, Bible, Christ, Conservative, corruption, creation, Discussion, education, Educational, Environmental, evangelical, Evolution, Freedom, fundamentalists, global warming, God, golden rule, Gun Control, Gun Ownership, health, History, Homeless, Homeless Veterans, Human Sexuality, Humanities, immigration, independent, Instructional, Jesus, Liberal, Literature, Music Video, NRA, Opinion, peace, Peace Issues, Philosophy, Populist, Poverty, Progressive, Psychology, Rational, Reason, reform, Religion, Republican Party, Right-Wing, Science, Social Commentary, Social Issues, Society, Uncategorized, United States, veterans, War | Leave a Comment »