Now if we could just get the politicians to think the same way. Ah...wishful thinking.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply to my post. I'm new to the world of atheism and I wish that all those I have an interchange with are as thoughtful as you seem to be. I hope we cross paths in future discussions.

Thank you for responding to my post and your right my thinking was babbling. But, my question is: Should I, or anyone, post something that may be babbling nonsense, or just keep our mouths for fear of saying something stupid? If I refrained from posting something that is probably babbling nonsense, I would be a coward. Which would be worse for me to see myself as a coward, or to have others think of me as just an idiot? I'm not saying that you inferred that I'm an idiot, I don't, but you've made me self-question my motivations.

I think of myself as a writer. On Facebook I write essays (keeping attention spans and how much I post in mind for length) and sometimes become aware that I babbled. It happens while proving ourselves to be genius’s. Because you’re intelligent we will either get your basic train of thought or you will edit it upon realizing the need. Never fail to write and post, however.

Well said. A philosophy to live by.

Thank you for your most excellent reply to my post, I don't see how any thoughtful person could disagree with your analysis. It reminds me of something Martin Luther King Jr. said in one of his books: "Whatever uplifts society is good; whatever detracts from society is bad." He was pointing out how wrong segregation is, because it diminishes society. Thanks again.

More detail: The men were Donald Oliver and James Shaver who (along with Fred Neumann) created the Harvard Social Studies Education Project. It focused on values decision-making in social issues. They called their approach the "jurisprudential approach." I am sure that you can find information on it on Google.

Than you for your thoughtful response to my post. I think that we're pretty much in agreement. Christian shouldn't claim, for example, that the Golden Rule belongs to them. However, isn't the Golden Rule "Do unto others as others do unto you" most often associated with Jesus? If so, to me, Christianity is co-oping a universal truth to enhance their so-called credibility? I don't know, you seem to understand this more than I do.

It does seem Jesus is very much associated with the Golden Rule. I would say that he definitley taught this ideal, but he certainly was not even the original creator of it. Jesus would have learnt this from possibly two sources
Firstly from Ancient Greek philosophy ,which pretty much inventedthe idea 500 years before he was born.He probably spoke Greek (as well as his native Aramaic)since that was widlet spoken amongst the well educated,of which he undoubtedly was(contrary to popular belief) Or he may have also learnt it from some spiritual Jewish teachings of the time,pretty much like the modern teachings of the Kabbalah.No one will know for sure but there is little doubt he was teaching something pretty revolutionary for his time in Judea and Israel.So he maybe he was just just repeating what he had learnt from some inspirational teacher, but he was obviously a very charasmatic and influential teacher in his own right
The irony is that as a he was a Jew, so he would not have had any idea about what a Christian was, since that phrase was not used until well after his death. Jesus was a Jew ,lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. Christianity was invented after he died ,think on that.

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