As I begin writing this comment, I really have no idea whether it's going to be a three-line agreement and another example, or a lengthy analysis of my agnosticism and beliefs regarding free will. I'll try to steer a middle road. :)
For the purpose of this discussion, we'll assume God is watching us. I've always been of the opinion there's little Divine involvement in our affairs beyond that observation. Most of the wrath and plagues from the Torah/Old Testament are allegories or pre-scientific interpretations of natural disasters -- and the Gospels focus on mankind's responsibility for itself.
But a monotheistic God in the Judeo-Christian sense, even though it doesn't dabble in its world, is certainly the font from which good and evil flow. What we do is Divinely sponsored if our actions conform to the higher morality God set in place -- not if we simply believe in God and still act in a contrary manner.
If the latter were the case, the Inquisition wouldn't be regarded with the kind of horror it generally is today. Many inquisitors genuinely believed they were doing the work of God -- yet in retrospect, most accept their more extreme actions were actually very wrong.
Unbelievers and heretics can still do good, just as the pious can do such evil. It's all a question of free will, the only real Divine gift bestowed on us. We're not in a land of milk and honey, and life can be hard -- but at least it's our life to live. If we choose to do so in a way of which God approves, I don't think it matters too much if we don't attend church every Sunday. :)
no subject
For the purpose of this discussion, we'll assume God is watching us. I've always been of the opinion there's little Divine involvement in our affairs beyond that observation. Most of the wrath and plagues from the Torah/Old Testament are allegories or pre-scientific interpretations of natural disasters -- and the Gospels focus on mankind's responsibility for itself.
But a monotheistic God in the Judeo-Christian sense, even though it doesn't dabble in its world, is certainly the font from which good and evil flow. What we do is Divinely sponsored if our actions conform to the higher morality God set in place -- not if we simply believe in God and still act in a contrary manner.
If the latter were the case, the Inquisition wouldn't be regarded with the kind of horror it generally is today. Many inquisitors genuinely believed they were doing the work of God -- yet in retrospect, most accept their more extreme actions were actually very wrong.
Unbelievers and heretics can still do good, just as the pious can do such evil. It's all a question of free will, the only real Divine gift bestowed on us. We're not in a land of milk and honey, and life can be hard -- but at least it's our life to live. If we choose to do so in a way of which God approves, I don't think it matters too much if we don't attend church every Sunday. :)