>> http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Abraham-Lincoln/1/ >> >> Scroll down to around the 22nd phrase and read: >> >> "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. >> And that's my religion." - Lincoln
> So. why did this work for Lincoln, but not for Nero, Stalin, > Bundy, and dozens of other people we could quickly name? Do > you think these guys felt bad about what they did? Maybe > they even felt good about it! Do you think there is any > limit to the horrors that an unrestrained human mind can > justify? History seems to say no. > We all exercise self restraint on a nearly continuous basis, > and we do this to a set of internal behavioral standards that > are constantly being updated. Updates that raise our standards > are generally the result of receiving and accepting instruction. > Standards may also be modified (usually downward) by > circumstances that affect us. A trivial example is: standing > around the water cooler for 20 minutes during the 10 minute > break. Do you go back to your desk after 10 minutes or do you > hang out longer? If the guys get away with it week after week, > circumstances may lead you to a reduction in personal standards. > A sharp word from the boss will bump everyones standard back up, > at least temporarily. We all know which fellow worker will be >the one to push the envelope again a few days later. > > Is "reduction of behavioral standards" a suitable definition > for the word "corruption"? Here's a quote. I don't recall > who said it. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Nero and > Stalin had it on a national level, Bundy had it on a personal > level. How do we avoid corruption in our lives on any level? > It is fairly easy to see corruption in others. How do we > identify it in ourselves? Identification is surely the first > step toward fixing it. What would the next step be? > > Jeff In my view you have asked an important question but have not followed through with: Why DID it work for Lincoln, as compared to Bundy, Stalin, or Nero. Obviously, it works better for some than others. It's obvious that there are many who seem to need this kind of religious structure in their lives in order to feel spiritually saved - though perhaps "spoken for" might seem a more accurate description. OTOH, there are also many others who don't need this kind of religious structure in their lives order to feel spiritually saved. Many of them who don't need this structure in their lives also deeply resent being told by those who feel they have been "saved" that what "saved" them must, by default, apply to them as well, as if they know what's best for them. I acknowledge the fact that your belief in being saved by Jesus is a genuine one. I have no desire in persuading you from it. It works for you. Unfortunately for me, it is pretty much those beliefs attributed to the great man, Jesus, that does nothing for my spiritual salvation. For me, it's absurd to believe that Jesus could absolve me from my sins - even temporarily. He isn't responsible for my actions, and never was. I also don't ever recall asking Jesus to take on the role of a poster spiritual whipping boy and I refuse to be guilt tripped into assuming that for my own spiritual salvation I ought to. Regarding Sin: Have I sinned? Of course I have. In the end I'm the one who must ultimately pay the price for my sins, and hopefully any good deeds I may have committed as well. It seems as if much of the Christian religious doctrine treats the crucifixion of Jesus more like one gigantic spiritual credit card transaction where the "sins" of humanity were only temporarily paid "in-full" on credit - as if humanity went out on an uncontrollable buying binge to BEST BUY and picked up the most expensive plasma HDTVs money can buy. But now...watch out for those end-of-the-month payments. For me, to have Jesus assume my sins by dieing on the cross cheapens the selfless act of what Jesus performed. What I see is that Jesus turned the other cheek - and paid the ultimate price for his bravery. I feel bad that such terrible badness was done unto him. It inspires me to want to behave better towards my fellow man and womankind. I don't always succeed. Concerning my own spiritual welfare I think it dubious to buy into heavenly transactions of such seriousness where one's "sins" have allegedly been temporarily paid-in full on credit. Cuz, as we all know, the longer you take to pay off the balance... the interest alone will eventually do you in. * * * * * You ask many other interesting questions, particularly on personal "corruption" and how one goes about fixing it, or is there something greater than oneself that can be tapped into or yielded to, but for now, I've contributed enough OT rhetoric to fill the bottom of a bird cage. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
