On Thu, Jul 04, 2002 at 12:55:27PM -0500, Dan Minette wrote: > Indeed, if you take the morality expressed in the New Testament and > compare it to the morality prevalent in the Greek and Roman cultures, > you will find that there is a lot more care expressed for others in > scripture than in the prevailing culture of the time. I think you > would be hard pressed to find other systems that came anywhere close > to the humanistic ideals we hold today.
It appears that you believe "care expressed for others", "humanistic ideals", and intrinsic human worth are important. Since various religions and moral systems place different values and judgements on these qualities, did you strive to evaluate each religion/moral system objectively to determine the religion which emphasized the qualities in the best way? And then chose your religion accordingly? Or are there other factors that influenced your decision? My impression is that few people choose their religion in the way described above. It seems more common for people to stick with what they are familiar with, or the first religion they experience. So, I think William's statement that started the discussion is highly relevant. Whatever axioms the person is lucky or unlucky enough to hit upon first are used to justify their behavior, good or bad. And which it is turns out to be mostly chance. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.com/
