Do you need religion to be a good person?

[CmdrShep2154]

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/25/p...rt-258874.html

Phil Chalmers says lack of spiritual discipline contributes to the creation of a teen killer. Do you agree with this. Does a person need religion to be a good person. I know people who are not very religious and they are non violent and friendly.

[Darkrulerxxx]

Phil Chalmers says lack of spiritual discipline contributes to the creation of a teen killer. Do you agree with this. Does a person need religion to be a good person. I know people who are not very religious and they are non violent and friendly.

obviously not. there are plenty of people that grew up with religion that are good in this world.

i'd argue that religion can do more harm than good...but that also goes with any bad parenting.

[the game]

You need morals to be a good person. You don't need to be religious to have morals.

[spinner981]

This thread is against forum rules apparently. Do not be surprised when it gets locked.

Concerning the topic. You don't need religion to be moral in the same way that you don't need a cookbook to bake a cake. You could simply bake it on accident, or from simply hearing about it. I believe you need a transcendent lawgiver in order for objective morals to exist, but you don't need to know that these morals are objective or that they come from a transcendent moral lawgiver in order to follow them.

[Reeve]

Of course you don't.

[primalmatter]

Well to be honest yes...

A large part of how we even came to define what is and isn't moral came from religion.

Its why stoning your wife to death for going out in public is frowned upon.

The west holds the beliefs and morals it does because of religion even if it has been eroded recently.

[MasterOfNone]

obviously not. there are plenty of people that grew up with religion that are good in this world.

i'd argue that religion can do more harm than good...but that also goes with any bad parenting.

You can make that argument about anything so there is that.

Ot: I find that people become more black and white as they get older and cling more so to their roots. That being said there is a reckless phase for all types of people. Religion or not. Do you have to have it? Meh...probably not but I would personally advise it.

[Darkrulerxxx]

Well to be honest yes...

A large part of how we even came to define what is and isn't moral came from religion.

Its why stoning your wife to death for going out in public is frowned upon.

The west holds the beliefs and morals it does because of religion even if they have been eroded recently.

no, not everyone came from religion which "Created" morals.

you don't need religion to be a good person.

[Volibear]

Well to be honest yes...

A large part of how we even came to define what is and isn't moral came from religion.

Its why stoning your wife to death for going out in public is frowned upon.

The west holds the beliefs and morals it does because of religion even if they have been eroded recently.

Except in early times, most religious books told you that a lot of things we do today are punishable by being stoned to death.

No, OP. You don't need religion to be a good person.

[primalmatter]

So where did Religion come from.

Like the general concept?

I would guess praying something didn't kill you in the night.

[spinner981]

So where did Religion come from.

Depends, where did existence come from?

[Independent voter]

One of these nights I'm going to get all liquored up and post threads on this forum.

An atheist can be a good person, better than 99% of religious people.

[primalmatter]

Except in early times, most religious books told you that a lot of things we do today are punishable by being stoned to death.

No, OP. You don't need religion to be a good person.

Every country in the world has the morals it does from religion... it shaped our entire civilization. Yes it has a strong effect on this.

[spinner981]

One of these nights I'm going to get all liquored up and post threads on this forum.

An atheist can be a good person, better than 99% of religious people.

Perfectly true when being a 'good person' simply means adhering to the morals that you yourself hold.

[MasterOfNone]

This thread is against forum rules apparently. Do not be surprised when it gets locked.

Concerning the topic. You don't need religion to be moral in the same way that you don't need a cookbook to bake a cake. You could simply bake it on accident, or from simply hearing about it. I believe you need a transcendent lawgiver in order for objective morals to exist, but you don't need to know that these morals are objective or that they come from a transcendent moral lawgiver in order to follow them.

Forum police. Got it.
As to your analogy....it's extremely flawed. No cookbook or experience will most definitely result in shit cake. Btw. Most people's transcendent lawgiver is what they refer to as God. Not sure what you are getting at here.

[spinner981]

I mean you are saying human morality came from Religion, but Religion was created by people, hence so was human morality.

That's like saying that science was created by humans. The idea of science, yes, but that which science explains and defines did not come from humans. Same for religion, for those who believe it. Religion is an attempt to explain things. That construct of attempting an explanation came from humans, but that which it attempts to explain did not.

- - - Updated - - -

Forum police. Got it.
As to your analogy....it's extremely flawed. No cookbook or experience will most definitely result in shit cake. Btw. Most people's transcendent lawgiver is what they refer to as God. Not sure what you are getting at here.

Basically, you need God to have morals, but you don't need to know about God to follow those morals. Most atheists condemn murder, which is immoral according to God after all. But that doesn't mean that they have to believe in God. You don't need to believe in God in order to follow His rules.

[Darkrulerxxx]

You can make that argument about anything so there is that.

Ot: I find that people become more black and white as they get older and cling more so to their roots. That being said there is a reckless phase for all types of people. Religion or not. Do you have to have it? Meh...probably not but I would personally advise it.

i used to be religious, im not now. i saw the morals they were trying to teach such as hating against homosexuality or denying the science behind dinosaurs or the existence of our universe (or lack of explanation) and the fundamentalist christians going batshit crazy if you ever disagreed with them.

i dont need religion to be a good person, if anything, it made me depressed.

[Bollocks]

Before this gets locked, a fun fact that I found about atheists is that they are not really that atheists.

Although the literal definition of “atheist” is “a person who believes that God does not exist,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, 14% of those who call themselves atheists also say they believe in God or a universal spirit.

[Darkrulerxxx]

Before this gets locked, a fun fact that I found about atheists is that they are not really that atheists.

well obviously they are agnostic.

[Crissi]

Religious threads arent allowed, and this is going quickly in that direction

closing