On Sep 14, 3:38 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > Whilst it is true that one man may not nesscarily know what is good > for another man, this is easy to put right by asking 'what can I do > for you?' Only if the recipient knows what man is. If the hungry man is ignorant of physiology, he may well say "please give me a nice thick steak and a glass of wine". And he's unable to digest the food. One who does not know what a man is cannot do good for his neighbor, except by accident.
> On 13 Sep, 18:39, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Yes, you "can have a feeling of responsibility towards society and > > consider it your duty towards it and do what is good for you and the > > others". But what have feelings to do with doing good? > > > A man comes upon a starving man, knowing little about human nature, > > offers him a good thick steak and a glass of wine. But the starving > > man cannot digest the food. The first man had a sincere "feeling of > > responsibility", and really wanted to "do what is good for the other", > > but utterly botched it, because he is ignorant of what is really good > > for the other man. > > > No doubt those with a "humanitarian mindset" mean well, and act in > > accord with what they believe is good for fellow humans, just like the > > Jihadist, or the mercy killer who euthanizes the sick patient, or the > > abortionist, or Hitler. Everybody does what he /believes/ to be good > > for his fellow man. But only those who /know/ what is good for their > > neighbor can consistently deliver. > > > On the Christian view, if we do not know Christ, we do not know what > > man is, so it is quite impossible to do good for man, except by > > accident. > > > On Sep 13, 10:30 am, RP Singh <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > A person can have a humanitarian mindset regardless of religion. You don't > > > have to believe in God to be good , you can have a feeling of > > > responsibility > > > towards society and consider it your duty towards it and do what is good > > > for you and the others. Patriots need not be religious , yet they feel a > > > great responsibility towards their country. There are so many motives for > > > a > > > man to do good to others irrespective of religion. On the other hand > > > people > > > are known to indulge in vice and ask God's forgiveness later. > > > > On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Sure, "helping is primal". But the Jihadist, having a different > > > > theology than the Christian, believes he is helping you by converting > > > > you to Islam by the sword. Not so the Christian, for whom religion is > > > > the "The voluntary subjection of oneself to God". > > > > > The island of atheists? Sure, they'd "help others" for some definition > > > > of "help" and "others". I know something about the Christian command > > > > to love my neighbor but don't know the official atheist dogma on > > > > helping others. If one acted like there were no God why would he > > > > think he has any duty to help others? > > > > > On Sep 12, 8:28 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > AW; > > > > > Yes there is............. > > > > > I'll refer you to rigsy's sept. 6 10:15 am post as to my "theistic > > > > > religiosity" comment. > > > > > > Also, people use therapy and AA like a religion- in fact, they "use" a > > > > > lot of things in lieu of religion. What about jingoism? <<<rigsy > > > > > > Do you think no one would help anyone else on an island of atheists > > > > > because they didn't have a religion to tell them to do so? Helping > > > > > is primal and innate as nurturing; religion and faith is human > > > > > construct and not necessity.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -
