stryper Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 there is a reason why every religion on the planet has something similar to the golden rule. Treat people as you would wish to be treated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldKingSol Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 One thing I have learned is "if you think it's wrong, you are probably right". I personally knew that, but when a friend said it out loud to someone else, it just resonated with me. That doesn't work if you were emotionally abused as a child. Maybe it does for the well adjusted. I hear what you are saying MM, but I have to disagree. In some circumstances people, in spite of the abuse, do feel when a situation is wrong. I have a friend who is now a police officer because she felt like the early abuse was not "normal". In some circumstances, not all. There's really nothing for you to "disagree" with, unless you're just disagreeing with something you perceive as a blanket generalization. The simple truth is that you -can't- always apply the same rule to everyone, and it boils down to either experience or genetic heritage. Some folks are born what others would call "evil", some are made that way - and some start out being made that way, and end up going some other path entirely on their own, not all good, not all bad, but some twisted cacophony of the two. Some are what many would consider "good" by nature, but get twisted by nurture - and have a devil of a time reconciling themselves. If they manage to succeed at some point, they've often hurt quite a few along the way. We are more complex than any blanket statements can ever pretend to define. :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldKingSol Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Why should anyone have to tell you how to live your life? Why aren't you your own role model? We are our own moral compass. When we do bad, we know it and when we do good, we know it. Breaking free of religion is how we free ourselves to live our own lives. And when we think we're doing bad, oft-times religion tells us to ignore that feeling because we're doing what -it- wants us to do. (sigh) Sorry, no criticism of what you're saying - I agree with you. Just made me think of something is all, and that is... It really sucks that so many of those thoroughly entrenched in it never seem to understand it's okay to "question" things once in awhile. Like someone (I forget who, but most of us have heard this one already) once said, "Good people do good things, bad people do bad things - but it takes religion to make truly good people do truly bad things." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I think just being good to others works. I know it can seem confusing after leaving religion & all of it's rules that we were told were "good" for us. There is an emptiness that was filled with the religion, but now we can fill it with goodness instead of lies & archaic fables. For me, it just took time to begin to readjust my worldview without the oppressive rules of the bible. You probably just need some time to get your compass going in a good direction for yourself. I know that I had lost trust in myself....I had to begin to work on making good decisions & so I learned to start trusting my instincts again, as I did before the cult brainwashed me. Maybe you can relate to that? IMHO Religion complicates moral issues by it's crazy rules & BS. While a believer, over time, I found religious morality downright confusing & cruel. It was topsy turvy. What I might consider "good" the pastor considered "evil"...what I thought "evil" the bible says is good.. Reading the old testament stories & the lies, maliciousness, cruelties of the "fathers of the faith" & the pastor made me wonder if the bible was really "god's book"..because I didn't like those guys in the bible. They seemed like a bunch of jerks to me & selfish to boot. ...the story about how Jacob cheated his brother, lied to dad to get the "blessing"....urgh it became too much cognitive dissonance for me to think that any good god would approve of the atrocious behaviors winked at in the bible. Ok..done rambling... Good luck & remember it's a journey...it takes time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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