What is greed??

[elgordoboy]

Agree for the most part, but "religious" people, by which I assume you mean people of faith, have a standard for right and wrong, an absolute right and wrong. If they miss, it's on them, not their faith. It would be like not knowing how to read and blaming the author of the book you are trying to read.

What about knowing how to read but blaming the author for being unclear? And then knowing how to read in another language and reading the author's work as it has been translated and blaming the translators as well?

 

[elgordoboy]

Again, I never said "religious", I said people of faith. Care to cite an example of a faith based view that is morally wrong? It's like I said above, the fact that you think you are right on something doesn't mean that you are, especially if there are no absolutes and if there is no basis for your sense of morality.

I thought you were rabidly against moral relativism in the past. Glad to see I was wrong, truly. I'll start paying a bit more attention to reading and understanding your posts and not feel so much like I am watching the pooch lick himself.

 

[6thGen]

What about knowing how to read but blaming the author for being unclear? And then knowing how to read in another language and reading the author's work as it has been translated and blaming the translators as well?

Fair enough, but the unclear parts are the stuff we argue amongst ourselves - atonement for all vs. atonement for the elect, Christ's death satisfying God's justice, conditional vs. unconditional eternal salvation, etc. "Thou shalt not covet" is pretty simple.

 

[6thGen]

I thought you were rabidly against moral relativism in the past. Glad to see I was wrong, truly. I'll start paying a bit more attention to reading and understanding your posts and not feel so much like I am watching the pooch lick himself.

What conflicts with my statement and question? When I said "if there are no absolutes", it's obvious that I'm refering to her belief system rather than my own. If you believe that my posts are verbal masturbation, skip them.

 

[LuciferSam]

There isn’t a great definition. It is the word that made me cringe most when Palin or McCain used it. Moreso Palin, because I thought she was a true believer. I find it hard to believe that atheists and agnostics can believe there is such a thing as their own greed, as they do not recognize a higher power that would frown upon individuals acting excessively and potentially detrimentally in their own self-interest. The only way I see they could justify not being greedy is the fact that helping out “society” makes them feel better, so they are still acting in their own self-interest, much like a Christian who behaves based on streets of gold in their afterlife. A&A are free to criticize who they see as greedy, but again, still acting in self-interest as a have-not. Please don’t construe this as a statement that atheists and agnostics are the only ones that are greedy, far from it, but those that do recognize a higher power would recognize the potential consequences down the road, and they should recognize that they are not acting in compliance with their beliefs. Cheering, great verse.

Individuals are always going to pursue their own self-interest, and greed can be political, social, and of course economical. Most focus on the latter, because, as previously mentioned, money is society’s most common report card. Greed is also a commonly pointed to evil of capitalism. There will always be greed in the world, and free market capitalism is the best shown system to manage it. In a free market, transactions are made only when both parties benefit. The “greedy” CEOs were only compensated in exorbitant sums because they created far more exorbitant returns for their shareholders. No one is holding a gun to the head of those paying the amount. Other forms of government may be more idealistic, but they turn a blind eye to human nature. I heard a great quote the other day that redistribution of wealth is nothing more than institutionalized covetousness. Interesting subject.

If you have a conscience, you don't need a higher power to guide you. Empathy is an innate physical property of the brain and is a product of evolutionary neurology. Our survival as a species depends on it. Even animals possess a sense of empathy and kindness to some extent. Belief in a higher power has nothing to do with it. People who let society jerk them around with all kinds of idiotic religious programming don't have a clue about their own natural self. It's not all their fault since they were indoctrinated with this crap when they were impressionable children. In my humble opinion.

 

[lerxst]

Conscience

Quote

"If you have a conscience, you don't need a higher power to guide you. Empathy is innate physical property of the brain and is a product of evolutionary neurology. Our survival as a species depends on it. Even animals possess a sense of empathy and kindnes to some extent. Belief in a higher power has nothing to do with it. People who let society jerk them around with all kinds of idiotic religious programming don't have a clue about their own natural self. It's not all their fault since they were indoctrinated with this crap when they were impressionable children. In my humble opinion" Lucifer Sam

It's regrettable that you feel like those "who have a belief in a higher power have been jerked around and indoctrinated with idiotic religious programming and crap when they were impressionable children". I was 21 years old when I made an investigation and a decision believe the claims of Christ. I understand "my natural self" more clearly than ever now.
Your screen name implies a belief in the Bible no?

 

[6thGen]

If you have a conscience, you don't need a higher power to guide you. Empathy is innate physical property of the brain and is a product of evolutionary neurology. Our survival as a species depends on it. Even animals possess a sense of empathy and kindnes to some extent. Belief in a higher power has nothing to do with it. People who let society jerk them around with all kinds of idiotic religious programming don't have a clue about their own natural self. It's not all their fault since they were indoctrinated with this crap when they were impressionable children. In my humble opinion.

Call it circular reasoning, or idiotic religious programming, but man was created by God in His image, therefore we possess a sense of empathy, among many other things. There is also truth that we're trying to explain the actions/motives/reasoning of God with the limited thought process of a human and that we can never hope to fully understand His rationale.

elgordo, don't read the rest of this post.

If empathy is innate and neurological, do you believe it is present in sociopaths, and how do you explain survival of the species with the proliferation of them, as well as their own survival and often prosperousness? You believe that morality is arbitrary, that the means justifies the ends. God is not the deterimner of good, He is good. He is the means and the ends. He is Reason.

 

[LuciferSam]

Quote

"If you have a conscience, you don't need a higher power to guide you. Empathy is innate physical property of the brain and is a product of evolutionary neurology. Our survival as a species depends on it. Even animals possess a sense of empathy and kindnes to some extent. Belief in a higher power has nothing to do with it. People who let society jerk them around with all kinds of idiotic religious programming don't have a clue about their own natural self. It's not all their fault since they were indoctrinated with this crap when they were impressionable children. In my humble opinion" Lucifer Sam

It's regrettable that you feel like those "who have a belief in a higher power have been jerked around and indoctrinated with idiotic religious programming and crap when they were impressionable children". I was 21 years old when I made an investigation and a decision believe the claims of Christ. I understand "my natural self" more clearly than ever now.
Your screen name implies a belief in the Bible no?

LOL! No! It's the name of an early Pink Floyd song about a Siamese cat. !

 

[traderx]

depends on what or who you have to do to build that house, I suppose. otherwise, the size of your home is just a matter of what you can afford and personal preference, imo.

That is good to hear. I don't want a large house. BTDT. I want one large enough to hold my kids when they come to visit. Otherwise, don't want a lot of space to cool or clean. I do, however, want a porch.

 

[LuciferSam]

Call it circular reasoning, or idiotic religious programming, but man was created by God in His image, therefore we possess a sense of empathy, among many other things. There is also truth that we're trying to explain the actions/motives/reasoning of God with the limited thought process of a human and that we can never hope to fully understand His rationale.

elgordo, don't read the rest of this post.

If empathy is innate and neurological, do you believe it is present in sociopaths, and how do you explain survival of the species with the proliferation of them, as well as their own survival and often prosperousness? You believe that morality is arbitrary, that the means justifies the ends. God is not the deterimner of good, He is good. He is the means and the ends. He is Reason.

No sociopaths are mutants. They thrive because they form religions and coerce others to join.