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Are we? Virtually all animals will fight for their lives or the lives of their young.
For their lives, yes but that may include forfeiting their young,
Not a pleasant thought but a realistic one
Not based on religion but just a fact of nature which governs us,like or not.
Are we? Virtually all animals will fight for their lives or the lives of their young.
And in a clan situation, for the lives of one another's child and those of the other adults, even to the fighter's own peril. Pack animals may also care for their sick and elderly, who are literally contributing nothing anymore to the pack's survival. Except in one way: reinforcement that a pack is better in numbers, an important lesson that humans also learned. The drives to do this are sympathy, empathy or both. Pack/clan animals do very well species-wise when they have developed this.
It's true that at other times pack animals can be brutal - killing the young when taking over the group, for example - but human beings can be brutal too and throughout history have practiced infanticide for a variety of reasons, not all of these being that the child was sick or in pain.
But if as evangelicals claim we are all born into and with sin, why do the majority of people do good, particularly those who have no affiliation with organized evangelical churches?
The majority don't do good according to God's standards. Most "good" actions have a self centered motive attachment.
The majority don't do good according to God's standards. Most "good" actions have a self centered motive attachment.
I don't think so, Jeff. If we talk about the majority then no, we do good or at least behave reasonably because it is in our nature to behave reasonably. Some of us - Christians included - are capable of and do behave rather badly. The worst of us are legendary - Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin .... just for starters. You and I would go out of our way to avoid harming another person or living thing (cockroaches, flies and mosquitos aside - and let's face it, we kill them when we can).
But as to doing good according to God's standards - no! Those standards I can do without. I don't see slavery, kidnapping, rape and murder as doing good so no, we do not generally behave in accordance with God's standards. I just can't get past killing a whole tribe of people and keeping the young girls to be raped.
Numbers 31: "17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.".
Can you imagine what those girls would have gone through?
The majority don't do good according to God's standards. Most "good" actions have a self centered motive attachment.
As do the actions of so many of the faithful- perhaps all of them, even the ones who martyr themselves. They are very adroit at telling themselves that it's what God wants for them.
They were so lucky! Godly men murdered their families and took them as slaves. I sure hope they were properly grateful to God.
Is it any wonder Christian fundies are scared poopless by their god? They think it's real.
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