Agnostic.com

4 1

In my last post I mentioned how Christ had no knowledge of science, especially biology and evolution. So how could such a person with so little knowledge be in a position to determine the morality of humanity? At best he was a good blue collar worker with a bad Messiah Complex.

He set an example that cursed humanity and was the cause of inestimable suffering. Three gospels (at Matthew 21:12–17, Mark 11:15–19, and Luke 19:45–48) give the account of how the Lord was morally offended and proceeded to violently punish the moneychangers in the temple. He turned over tables, yelled like a spoiled kid and proceeded with a vituperative diatribe.

What kind of example did he set for future generations.of Christians? If he had any knowledge of evolution he would have realized that the hindbrain is the seat of reptilian emotions like fear, anger and rage. He went into a fierce demonstration of moralistic contempt and acted hysterically. (From the Latin word for womb, he acted like a woman giving birth.)

If Christ had any knowledge of evolution, he would have realized that the hindbrain should never be followed. A great novel of the 1950s makes the point cogently. William Golding even won the Nobel Prize for Literature with Lord of the Flies. To a casual reader it's just a sad story about a group of choirboys marooned on a deserted island. But it's much more profound as it's an allegory of Freudian concepts.

The leader of the choir is Jack who symbolizes the Id (Latin for It) He obeys the Pleasure Principle and cares only about immediate satisfaction with no concern or regard for the consequences of his behavior. Today these people are called psychopaths. Did Christ care about the example he was setting for future generations of believers? Jack was so incensed by Ralph's, (Freud's concept of ego), attempt at control, that at the end of the book he was willing to burn down the entire island just to get revenge -- just as humans are doing to our wonderful planet right now.

The title of the masterpiece might just as well be Beelzebub (In Hebrew, "Lord of the Flies".) There are many words for the concept of devil, but they are no more than a description of our base animal instincts and emotions. As the bloody pig's head impaled in the sand tells Simon, the mystic, there is no beastie.

Think of all the times in history people had to suffer because of offended moral beliefs. The murderers and perpetrators of genocide were following basic concepts of Christianity.

Aristippus 6 May 18
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

4 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

The authors who vomited what was later assembled into a hodgepodge of lunacy known by many as the Bible, were no more educated than any of their peers. The character in the New Testament drama called Christ, if he existed, was as ignorant as any of his playwrights. Never was any so-called holy word or scripture in advance of the people who wrote it, thus demonstrating the human fallibility and authenticity of 'God's word.'

2

IF one believes in the Trinitarian doctrine, one has no choice but to agree with the atheist who rightly claims that if reality was designed, it was designed by a quarrelsome committee.

How dumb to believe that God created this orderly and beautiful universe. Newton did humanity a disservice with this concept. The universe is anything but orderly. How about when gallaxies collide?

@Aristippus When galaxies collide the stars don't slam into each other, but the two galaxies engage in a 'dance' over the millennia which inevitably ends in a much larger galaxy. The collision of galaxies, such as M51, is a beautiful story of summation, not destruction. Albeit without a supernatural explanation.

@p-nullifidian Either way, do you think Newton was wrong to convince people that the universe is an orderly work of God. He did most of his important work at Trinity College and intended to be a minister up graduation. He brought on the :"Age of Reason."

@p-nullifidian Are you saying that out of the billions of stars in each gallexy, none of them collide?

@p-nullifidian
The galaxy NGC 4485 colliding with its larger galactic neighbour NGC 4490 as photographed by the hubble telescope, the red patches are colliding stars exploding

@Aristippus "Despite the Andromeda Galaxy containing about 1 trillion stars and the Milky Way containing about 300 billion, the chance of even two stars colliding is negligible because of the huge distances between them."
[phys.org]

"Although stars don't collide when two galaxies merge, the much larger gas clouds do."
[astronomy.ohio-state.edu]

@Aristippus, @LenHazell53 It is my understanding that the regions you're referring to are star formations, not explosions resulting from collisions. The likelihood of two stars colliding during a merger of galaxies has been calculated to be infinitesimally small.

@p-nullifidian I saw a picture of it happening. It didn't look too orderly to me.

0

Most of the following is something I already typed for another post. It works well to explain and give definition. What I will add to address your post is this: First, I will address Jesus character in short with out deep biblical study. Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. In short, it is said that Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets such as Isaiah therefore, Jesus is about or capable of creating evil.

Second: Morality in part (as explained below) is dependent upon rules/laws imposed upon someone and their ability or lack of ability to follow those rules/laws. The issue about this part of morality is that rules/laws can be arbitrary.
arbitrary

  1. based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
    "his mealtimes were entirely arbitrary"

  2. (of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority.
    "arbitrary rule by King and bishops has been made impossible"

With rules/laws being arbitrary this means that the fact of non-sense laws can affect the apparent morality level that a person has. I could argue that the traffic laws of a stop sign requiring a complete and total stop is at times not so necessary for a driver given some situations. However, in view of such a law, the law itself does not care if the stop sign is out in the country 20 miles from any other stop sign and only 5 cars a day drive down the road. A local farmer living near the stop sign and not coming to a total complete stop ever time makes for the farmer to have technically a lower level of morality because the farmer "rolls" thru the stop sign because he can see for miles either way to know that no cars are crossing the intersection.

In the United States stop signs and other traffic laws are considered misdemeanor criminal offenses punishable by fine. Most all those that have driven a vehicle long enough could very well be labelled as a criminal for the fact of violation of a simple traffic law.

Morality is defined as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Principle is defined as a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. www.lexico.com
Moral comes from the Latin word mores, for habits. The moral of a story is supposed to teach you how to be a better person. If moral is used as an adjective, it means good, or ethical. If you have a strong moral character, you are a good member of society. If someone is a cheat and a liar, you might say, "She is not a moral person." [vocabulary.com]

Moral/morality is viewing the actions, activity, habits, etc. of a person and then comparing those to 2 different things.

  1. First, those things are compared to standards, rules, or laws that establishes 'RIGHTS AND WRONGS".
    Example: The rules says: no chewing bubble gum while walking. Sue was seen chewing bubble gum while walking. Sue violated the rule. Sue would have low morals in view of the rule of "no chewing bubble gum while walking".
    OR
  2. Second, those things are compared to good and bad (evil).
    Example: Sue walked while chewing bubble gum. While walking works out leg muscles it does not specifically work out facial muscles. Chewing gum gave the added benifit (good) for Sue to get her facial muscles worked out while walking. No one was harmed(suffered an evil) by the fact that Sue chewed bubble gum while walking. Sue would have high morals( good health habit) for chewing bubble gum while walking.
    Sue was immoral for violation of the rule but was moral in view of a health benefit.

etymology moral(adj):
mid-14c., "associated with or characterized by right behavior," also "associated with or concerning conduct or moral principles" (good or bad), from Old French moral (14c.) and directly from Latin moralis "proper behavior of a person in society," literally "pertaining to manners," coined by Cicero ("De Fato," II.i) to translate Greek ethikos (see ethics) from Latin mos (genitive moris) "one's disposition," in plural, "mores, customs, manners, morals," a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps sharing a PIE root with English mood (n.1).
From late 14c. as "of or pertaining to rules of right conduct" (opposed to non-moral, amoral) and "morally good, in accordance with rules of right conduct" (opposed to immoral). Of persons, "habitually conforming to moral rules," 1630s. From 1680s with reference to rights, duties, etc., "founded on morality" (opposed to legal).
Applied to indirect effect in moral support (1823), moral victory (1888), where the notion is "pertaining to or affecting the character or conduct" (as distinguished from the intellectual or physical nature), a sense attested from 1590s; in this sense, compare morale. Related: Morally.
moral(noun):
"moral exposition of a story, the doctrine inculcated by a fable or fiction, the practical lesson which anything is designed to teach," c. 1500, from moral (adj.) and from French moral and Medieval Latin moralia. In this sense, morality was used from late 14c. The earlier noun use of moral was "a commandment pertaining to morals."
[etymonline.com]

Word Level 8 May 19, 2020
2

He didn't exist.

Probably not. But the discussion is about his legacy. The beliefs he left behand.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:497180
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.