Posted on 04/21/2006 7:30:03 AM PDT by Dark Skies
"Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. If I could just make a personal statement of my own -- in these 3 1/2 years I have understood and known better than ever before the words of Lincoln, when he said that he would be the greatest fool on this footstool called Earth if he ever thought that for one moment he could perform the duties of that office without help from One who is stronger than all."—Ronald Wilson Reagan"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”—George Washington
"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." —Patrick Henry
"Ex-Muslim" has a nice ring to it.
Absolutely yes.
Or when they put too much of a reliance on God. Theocracies have never been known to be very freedom-loving.
Ping. For later.
Do you believe that Patrick Henry was advocating a Theocracy or a Republic formed by moral men?
> As somebody once put it: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.”
"Somebody" was wrong.
LOL
"It is great that muslims are leaving islam...but it is a shame that they replace islam with atheism."
I disagree. When's the last time an atheist strapped explosives to himself and blew up a bunch of civilians or flew a plane into a skycraper?
Can you have morality without religion?
Absolutely yes.
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I would have to disagree with you here. Without religion, even truth itself is not possible to define. Hence the term "Gospel Truth".
Without a foundation of moral code (Religion), then anyone can justify anything at any time for any reason. Your moral code is different than the next.
Without religion, then who is it that defines what the moral code is? WHat may be moral to you, is not moral to someone else, etc.
All that said, anyone that truely wishes to understand moral codes and what truely is the most beautiful and positive for society is the moral code of Jesus Christ. Don't take what others say, study and learn for yourself.
The true definition of Love from Jesus: Giving that which you have little of to someone else that is in greater need, but they do not deserve.
To me the question has never been that Judeo-Christianity has done both harm and good. The question has always been "Has Judeo-Christianity done more harm than good".
It has given birth to the greatest civilization that mankind has ever known.
This statement is highly questionable. Although there is little doubt that a great civilization spawned during the rise of Judeo-Christianity, it is hard to determine a causal relationship.
This democracy that has brought to the world this much progress in the last couple of centuries, could not have been born in any other culture.”
He continues to proceed from what might very well be a false premise.
Religion, all religion, at its very best, is a waste of time. Jesus never taught it. He told us to relate directly to His Father, through Him.
Relationship, not religion.
lol...I don't mean they should choose islam over atheism. I was thinking of Ergun Caner and his brother who became great Christian leaders after leaving islam. Their lives have been magnified greatly by their new faith.
And after all, atheism is a religion of sorts...it is a belief system.
One of the contenders is what I will label the ideology of Egalitarianism, of which Multiculturalism is the most prominent component.
When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything
These few quotes sums up something I've been thinking about for a long time. There is one modern, advanced culture that has a high view of morality but is not a religiously focused society. This morality is imposed through cultural homogeneity, which is the antithesis of multiculturalism. It's Japan. My wife is Japanese and I've visited there and they definintely do have a different perpective on life from both a European and Muslim perspective. They are very secular, but still know right from wrong, at least relative to Western society. A lot of it has to do with common, unifying culture, language and traditions. It is possible to have strong morals, but not a strong religious belief if the entire society agrees on common cultural norms and those are actively reinforced. The downside is that much individuality is lost and the pressure to conform to a specific role in society leads to a high suicide rate.
We need to know these two things: God is Love; Love one another.
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