Why Do people think they need A GOD to be good people?

by LucyA 75 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  bluecanary

  About this idea of being "GOOD" .... Are you Good JWfacts? How many convicts feel the same as you?

  I don't know, I haven't done a poll. How many convicts think they are good?

  How do you know if you are harming others or not?

  How do you?

  I find your questions to be odd.

  I've heard people say that when they found God, they became better people. I've heard other say that when they decided God didn't exist, they became better people. It is my belief that it is the mental effort that goes into choosing a belief system that makes us apply ourselves to being better people.
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  MissingLink

  What does being good or living a good life have to do with God? Who told you that belief in God equates to being good?

  Well, your buddy Perry for one. He's said that all non-believers are "baby killers" among other things.
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  Perry

  Hi there Missing Link,

  You misquoted me. There may be some pro-life secularists, I just haven't met one personally. But since you bring this up, do you think abortion doctors are good people?
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  garyneal

  Hello All,

  I've been refraining from answering this post but I feel I must share my thoughts on this for anyone who cares to read it.

  Do we need A God to be a good person? I believe we ultimately need to be accountable to someone in order to do what is right as I feel that in our imperfect world we are tempted to do more wrong than right. PP raised an interesting point about Moral Law. Where did it originate? I agree with Perry in that it originated with God.

  I met an agnostic a few years back who was a very nice man and seemed to be nicer than many "religious" people do. While at the same time, many injustices are done by people who claim to do it for God. While I find it disheartening to see so many people here who do not believe in God, I am not at all surprised considering that the Watchtower teaches a callous unloving God.

  People who release themselves from the God of the legalistic churches and the cults would indeed find themselves be better people for their God is cold and callous and operates on the letter of the law. Just the same, the people who find themselves finding a loving God as presented by Christ Jesus also find themselves to be better people for the God Jesus presents operates on the spirit of the law. God is a just God and must judge sin but He is also a loving God and sent Jesus to make a way for our forgiveness and our release from sin and all we have to do is accept Him.
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  White Dove

  I try to be good and do good because I have to live with myself and can't do it if I hurt another. My gods and goddesses are metaphorical learning tools that help me to look within and draw up power that I have within myself. Tarot and grace cards are great tools to focus on improving one's character weaknesses. I don't need a literal god, like the kind in the Bible, to be good.
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  StoneWall

  Why Do people think they need A GOD to be good people?

  Plain and simple answer....you can't have GOOD without GOD. If you take GOD out of GOOD it leaves you with just O.

  Sorta like this: G O O D

  and if you say O God then you've used all 4 letters again but in the wrong sequence.

  Hope this has cleared up any confusion about why its important to have god in good.
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  White Dove

  Well then, it sounds like I'm safe because I have lots of them!
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  AllTimeJeff

  No one has addressed the existence of Moral Law. This desire to do good - even when no reward is offered - where did it come from?

  Password, I apologize for not getting back to you on this.

  I actually think there is something to this. I don't think however that the answer lies in Christianity, to be honest.

  Frankly, I see good people in all religions and nations. It is an individual thing, and it isn't based on a professed set of beliefs, or which church one goes to.

  So where does "good" come from? It feels right to credit this to a higher power. But I can't be honest and say that this higher power has ever offered real proof that "good" came from him.

  It's a hard thing to swallow when "evil" exists right beside it, unchecked.
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  passwordprotected

  @ ATJ - "I actually think there is something to this. I don't think however that the answer lies in Christianity, to be honest."

  I'm not arguing for Christianity on this issue. I'm arguing that people examine Moral Law and ask where, through evolution, it came about. It's difficult to talk about "living a good life" without asking "who decides what's a good life?" If there's something in us that draws us to want to do and receive good, and repels us from evil, how did it get inside us?
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  Satanus

  Different animals have different intrinsic natures. Dogs, for instance, naturally have a pack mentality. They tend to have a social order based on one pack leader w the rest of the pack being subjected to the alpha. Chimps probably have the most advaned social system, next to humans. Human animals, as well as being the most advanced socially, also have the most variations. Most humans like to have order. To have order, it takes, among other things, a measure of cooperation. Those who measure up to the standards necesary for the order to be well maintained we label as good. Belief in god has no more to w their being good than it does w dogs and their social order.

  Saying that there is a moral law which's existence proves the existence of their god has no more, or perhaps less validity than does saying that it proves natural selection in evolutionary theory. It is an attempt by theists to remedy the pausity of proof for the existence of their god. Direct, physical proof is lacking, so they seek intellectual ones.

  S