thread: 2006-08-31 : I think my expectations are screwed
On 2006-09-07, Blankshield wrote:
Tris:
"I always struggle with this: That the morality I have been brought up with judges "good" based on my actions. But a supposedly "good" god rewards or punishes solely on "belief". I suspect we'd all think a guy who tortures kids for fun but devoutly believes in god and redemption to be more evil than a guy who spends his life working to help others, but isn't sure about whether he has a soul. However from what I understand most christians believe god would put the "evil" guy in heaven, and the "good" guy in hell?"
None of the christians I know (or am). More relevant for the argument, the tradition I belong to (Roman C) certainly wouldn't, nor would any of the christian traditions I'm aware of.
Also Tris: "Wundergeek's mention of the anonymous christian is what I feel a god that was good by my standards would do, but seems to be at best a minority view."
Not really, no. Or at least, not in my experience. Most people I know who believe in God/god/Gods/gods tend to agree that God knows that a devout asshole is still an asshole, and that nice people are still nice people, even if they think God is a quaint historical artifact from when we were just half a step removed from monkeys.
Obviously this suffers from Syndey's self-selected group problem noted above, but I strongly suspect that anyone who has applied reason to their beliefs as Sydney prescribes would come to the same general idea.
James
