Had a patients father ask me what religion I practice...

I think you hit it with clarity, and had been thinking along the same lines.

Man left paradise because of original sin.
God forgives and re-offers the paradise, to the extent of sacrificing his son.
Man can accept the gift of re-entering paradise or not. Gods spirit touches man towards this end.

That is the purpose and prize so to speak. Being good (or bad) would be the religious persons potential poison to paradise since they are going after the prize...given their position on once saved always saved.

The atheist doesn't believe in any of that, and is just trying to be good, and is simply being honest from his perspective to the guy reading the koran.

 

If God has written a moral code in all our hearts, which he said he has in my religious faith, then no, you cannot seperate morality from God.

Case in point is the Golden Rule spoken of by Christ. Essentially if we love God and our fellow man they we will adhere to the law without trying. He then goes on to quantify such love to our fellow man by saying we should do unto others as we would have them do to us. This is a universal truth.

Of course, we all break this rule don't we. We all have a conscience that pricks us in the side when we break this rule, do we not? This is the point I was making.

So then, what constitutes a "good" person? How many pricks in the side do we need before transitioning to a "bad" person or how hard to those pricks have to be?

Usually, what we do is try to compare ourselves to the world at large, and then try to assess if we are better. However, what if you were in a world full of Hitler like morality, you would then have a very low bar to be "good", would you not?

So if there be a God, what criteria should be used to judge if someone is good? In fact, should he even care? If God is just, then he would care if someone wrongs you, just like a court of law here on earth should care and make a judgement. Additionally, what should be the cost of such wrongdoing?

 

funny your comment to the father lectured him on the concept of the "good person".

 

What are you talking about?

 

Why do I care what your version of good is? You said in your opening OP that you could be a "good" person without religion. Therefore, without qualifying what good is this statement is meaningless.

You might as well say, I can be a dorfinshirtz without being religious. Well, what is a dorfinshritz?

 

Well the agnry tax payer not only made it the person in questions business, he made it our business as well. Then when we ask what it means to be a good person, he says its none of our business?

 

That's you're opinion.

What really cracks me up is how my topic irritated people like you and others. That makes it all worth it IMO.

 

I guess everyone needs a hobby.

 

I'll refer you to your opening post, in case your memory is a little lax.

 

OOOH, pats self on back again.
I guess somebody has to do it.

 

If you asserted that it required religion to being a dorfinshirtz then I hope you would know.

 

I'll have you know, that me being a dorfinshirtz is none of your business.....even though I just opened a thread calling myself that.....and is the whole premise of my thread.

I"m just say'in!!

 

It could be my business if you claim that religion is required to be a dorfinshirtz and we are both dorfinshirtzes.

Just saying.

 

You would have never had a long conversation with me on the topic, since I do not discuss religious nonsense with religious people.