Specineff wrote:
Uh.. not sure about the raping and pillaging. Not for me, though. Heh.
Let's put it in this way: if you think that you need a God to behave like a human being, i think you're in a very bad situation. Long before The birth of Joshua ben Hiram, known as " the Christ", there were many other forms in many other cultures which placed, in the respect of common rules and social cohesion, the basic notions of civilization. The terms "filialitas" (fraternity) , or " Άάγάπέ" (Agapé, which is roughly fraternity as well, and has been quickly absorbed into christian doctrines from his hellenic roots) existed centuries before.
I gre up in Italy, in which the "christians" are mostly catholic. We have the highest percentage of volunteers and non-profits organizations of Europe, and a good chunk of these volunteers (i think 40%) are NOT christians, including myself. Back when i was in Italy, i worked for free, helping a christian organization (Caritas) in their work. I have a bank account with an "Ethic bank", in the sense that all my interests go to organizations which help the poor.
I am completely atheist, as well.
Solidarity, in case you wonder, is an excellent method to lower stress and tension, from a social point of view. I'm not "leftist" (whatever the word may mean, now), so i don't endorse social-awareness policies because of any kind of religious or political creed.
I never had problems of people trying to convert me, even if i often worked with women and men of God, because they were more bothered about my acts, than my words or shallow beliefs.The only people trying to convert me, so far, have been the ones who are more obsessed with useless forms and rituals.
Among other things, helping people, in my opinion, can lead to changes: changes in their opportunities for the future, their approach to life and other people as well.
Asking for the lock of a thread because people don't share your beliefs is, to say the least, questionable. Pretending that the only obstacle to the regression to a feral attitude toward others is any divinity is, well, somewhat ridicolous: i can't think of any variant of "Christianity" that endorses such an hermeneutics of the holy scriptures.
In the words of the Christ himself, "who is without sin, throw the first stone". Or, like a catholic proverb says, "Help yourself and God will help you".
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
