Piper mentions that non-believers have better "tools" for morality at their disposal... but he doesn't get into it. I'd be curious about what he thinks those tools are.
One of the things I noticed as I was exiting faith is that I used the word "Why" a lot.
Why do I do this? Why do I think this? Why, why, why?
I was like a 5-year-old again.
It occurred to me that I really didn't have much of an ethical system... I just had a bunch of mores that were often particular to my subculture. Upon inspection, most of them had nothing to do with ethics, and much of my life guilt was completely non-sensical.
In my subculture of Evangelicalism, "morality" was a big deal (not so much in the Trump era), and we talked a good game... but in truth, there was little moral instruction.
Take, for example, a sermon I heard by a popular Evangelical preacher. He was assuring the congregation there was a Hell and everyone but "the saved" are going there. He went on to say, "If there is no Hell, I'm going to the strip club tonight!"
This is a common thought line among the religious... if it weren't for the "judgment of god," I would behave completely differently.
That isn't morality... it is obedience. It is social pressure. It isn't a true belief in right and wrong - and it collapses fairly easily when challenged.
This is why every other week, another mega-church leader is caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Jerry Falwell Jr. didn't have an ethical system he lived by, he had social pressures he adhered to.
I often tell my students that they are not being a friend if they allow someone to copy their work. It is the equivalent of watching someone else exercise and expecting to get fit. When the moment comes for them to demonstrate their ability with a math problem, they will be unprepared.
Religion often leaves people morally and ethically unprepared... because they have been content to copy someone else's answers to life's important questions.
1 comment:
A heavy topic and I'm not sure I'm equipped to respond.
But I will leave a comment that if you want to reply to individual comments, you have to turn on embedded comments in your blog settings. Once you click on settings, scroll a little under halfway down and there is a section of "Comments" options. The first option "Comment Location" has the option of "Embedded Comments". Be warned however, earlier this year Blogger was having lots of issues that only affected those of us with embedded comments. It dragged on for a month and a half or so but they finally figured it out... I hope.
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