Is 'Golden Compass' 'selling atheism to kids'? — OZONE Asylum, home of the Mad Scientists

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Is 'Golden Compass' 'selling atheism to kids'?

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Your Text: Insert Slimies » Insert UBB Code » Close Last Tag \| All Tags UBB Help	[quote]Weren't the societal norms that you condemned above arrived at by other people's developed sense of right and wrong? You know I make moral judgments against a good many things based on what I believe God has spoken and take heat for it, but on what basis do you make your condemnation? I'm not trying to give you a hard time on this but am interested in knowing your thought process. -Bugimus[/quote] It's hard to tell what you're actually asking me there. I can only reitterate my point; that wrong can be committed in the name of God as easily as for any other reason. There's the rub! As has been pointed out a million times (here and elsewhere) much has been done throughout history in the name of one religion or another that could (and should) be considered evil and corrupt. It's easy to pass these things off as acts of madness by zealots who should never have represented their faith. It's easy to pass off the evil acts of an individual who 'heard the word of god' as the result of psychosis. It's just as easy to label the evil acts of a non-believer as being un-godly. It's easy to call an evil individual 'godless'. Is it only once that act is performed that one can determine whether it was truly 'godly', or the demented behaviour of a madman? Should I commit an act of evil in the name of God, or commit and act of good without any form of religious faith, one way or another, it comes down to my self-determined sense of whether what I do is right or wrong. That I might blame God, or credit my own values, is a matter of personal choice, the validity of which cannot be determined but against another's sense of whether what was done was right or wrong... ...in other words, I do what I believe is right by other people. I treat people as I wish to be treated, and show all the respect that I feel all are entitled to - and I do this off my own back. On the other hand, if I were to get things wrong (have a warp spasm and wake up in a bloodbath on the bus one day, for instance), I would say in all honesty that the only one to blame would be me. I am a good human being. I say that without modesty because it is true. I am kind, generous, thoughtful, and do the best I can by all I cross paths with. I make mistakes, but honest ones, and I always make amends as best I can. I live, by all intents and purposes, a Godly and righteous life - just without the "Godly" bit, without religious faith, without prayer, and without randomly stoning young men to death because they walk a bit funny. It doesn't matter how often someone spouts the tired old phrase "you're taking it out of context" because it comes down to this; if the context of these words of guidance can be interpreted wrongly, then you must make the determination of 'correct' context, and thereby define which passages are 'good guidance' and which are not. By this measure, a religious man's values are as much a matter of self-determination as those of the faithless man. If they both commit themselves to charitable and modest living, there is nothing to distinguish between their choices but in their reasons for choosing. One's morals are determined by upbringing, genetics, experience, and chemistry. Whether one attributes one's behaviour to God or self-determination, one's morals are ultimately a matter of choice. Whether one is handed one's morals carved in stone, interprets what they should be from a very selective arrangement of exerpts from an old book of fables, or learns from experience and good parenting, the result is still personal choice, and will vary from one person to another regardless of their similarities. I'm starting to ramble now... [small](Edited by [url=http://www.ozoneasylum.com/user/4663]White Hawk[/url] on 01-08-2008 18:28)[/small] Loading...
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