Are We Kind Because It's the Right thing to Do/Or Because "God"Tells Us To? (page 3)

kerj2leev

Because we must hate what is bad.

I thought we were to love our enemies?

flipper

SWEETSTUFF- I agree totally Sweetstuff. Doing things out of pure love is the real true motive to show ! It's always right to show kindness!

PROPHECOR- I agree it takes effort to be kind, but not too much. I like being kind it is not a lot of effort for me. Maybe when dealing with people that are mean and rude, perhaps, but most people I find it easy to be nice to. I don't feel seriously laden with sin and imperfection as you say. I feel pretty happy about myself .

DARK UNCLE29- I agree. I try to live without regrets too. I try to avoid getting into it with schmucks too, ignore them. It's cool you always look for someone who needs a hello or a nice comment.

ECLIPSE- You are right. I feel we are born good too. We learn kindness and hurtfulness. I agree completely with your take on that ! I feel we learn how to treat others from the environment we are surrounded by, and it's up to us to learn from the good, and eliminate the bad tendencies. We will be treated by others how we treat them. Don't need a religion to tell us that !

GOPHER- I agree with you. There are many "gods" that would have people perform violence or warfare. I feel that religion makes people feel "inadequate " so they are forever in search of the " carrot " of being good. I agree with you that we have strong impulses for good in us. We need to listen to these good impulses and act.

MOMZCRAZY- From what I've seen you are a very kind person since I've seen you on the board ! From what you say about yourself though, I'll try to be kind and hope the other side does'nt come out ! LOL!

SERENDIPITY- I think the standard of how to be kind is set in how we see other kind people treat each other. Opening doors for others, having sympathy in times of need, fellow feeling for people when they are down, countless other things. I think it's pretty clear and obvious to most of us when people are mean and vengeful or arrogant

prophecor

..it takes effort to be kind, but not too much. I like being kind it is not a lot of effort for me. Maybe when dealing with people that are mean and rude, perhaps, but most people I find it easy to be nice to.

Agreed. Dealing with mean, rude and offensive persons presents a challenge when wanting to deal with them cordially. A representation of my reality where I live, on the streets of Philadelphia, often times, you can't afford to be nice. It is not expedted or demanded of you. The urban envioronment can be viewed as a psycho-logical battlefield. You are looked at as weak, effeminate, maybe even a little nuts if you display attributes of any goodliness, common decency and civility.

It's in my nature to want to do good, as a rule. I wrestle at times with wanting to sincerely project what I hope God would want me to display as a human, yet, not wanting to sacrifice a portion of my soul to those who might view me as weak or less than human, by my attempt to be better than. The "Oh, you think you're better than us" crowd. Even there lies the paradox of being human. To do good, to incorporate Godly qualities, dispite the fact that you may even become ridiculed.

I'm no better than any of them, or any of you. In fact, I know in many shadows of my life, I am worse... and that's the point. Because I know there exist much of which is not good within me, it gives me even greater reason to try and do as much good as is humanly possible, and when that fails, to rely on God to help me do the good that I could never do on my own.

flipper

SUMMER- I agree with you. People do have good hearts. I believe in Karma too. And kindness does go a lot further than being unkind.

LOVER OF TRUTH- I agree with you too. I like being kind to others. Don't need a religion to tell me to do it though.

NVR- Democratic, ethical, with personal liberty. Wow! You almost make too much sense! Good take ! Peace.

VOIDEATER- I agree that you can sense if people respond to you by their expressions. Don't need a religion to tell us if we are coming across nice or not !

WORLD TRAVELLER- Yeah. I agree it's crazy. We don't need the scriptures or the witnesses to tell us to be kind . We can all tell ourselves !

KERJ2LEEV- Yeah! You try loving your enemies if they are killing you ! Easier said than done ! If they don't attack me physically I will tolerate my enemies , avoid them when I can, but not necessarily love them! Peace out, Mr. Flipper

B_Deserter

The question whether ethics come from the Bible is quite simply, no. The fact of the matter is, all Christians pick and choose which rules from the Bible they wish to follow. For instance, the Bible tells slaves to be obedient to their masters, yet the abolitionist Christians decided that slavery was wrong, independent of the fact that the Bible never condemns it, but quite to the contrary supports it. So where did the abolitionists get their morals from? What made them decide to be against slavery when it is clearly condoned in the so-called "moral guidebook?"

What about the laws of Leviticus and Numbers? God told the Israelites that it was wrong for them to eat certain animals, to wear clothes made from more than one kind of thread, or to allow homosexuals to live. Now you can say that Jesus made those laws obsolete, but deep down you realize that it's just rationalization and cognitive gymnastics. Christians don't want to come to terms with the nasty bits of the bible even though Paul said "All Scripture is Inspired of God." Jesus even said that he did not come to destroy the law, but fulfill it, and that anyone who follows the least of the commandments follows the greatest. You can't really prove that those laws weren't meant for Christians, because the only ones that were addressed in the Bible was the eating restrictions and circumcision. And those issues Jesus was completely silent on. It was Paul that made those rulings. Paul, the Joseph Rutherford of Christianity.

The very fact that many Christians do not follow every law in the Bible, yet still live moral lives proves that it is possible to have morals without it. Everyone decides their own moral code and their own path. Sure, some attach it to the Bible, but if they truly followed it, they'd be very frightening people indeed.

flipper

B- DESERTER- I agree with you. It would be impossible for religionists to follow everything in the Bible. Everybody has to make their own choices, true. It truly would be a scary world if people followed everyhting in the Bible to a tee and took it all literally ! Run for cover ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper

R.Crusoe

Probably my greatest mistake on joining JWs was my blind adherence to scripture and an assumption that everyone was of the mind set I was so keenly developing. And I hadn't developed it fully enough before all sorts of doubts started to set in about others viewpoints and behaviors. I'd already committed and it seriously messed my reasoning up. People should focus less on the scripture and do a whole lot more watching and evaluating the social dynamics and lifestyle and ask themselves if this is how they want to live. No point avidly following a recipe book when others are all leaving out the ingredients.

flipper

R.CRUSOE- I agree with you and feel for you my friend. It reminds me of what caused me to leave the witnesses . I saw the incongruity of witnesses not following what we were all learning together in the Bible, and I would try, but saw very unloving hypocritical behavior . In time I was convinced they did not have the " truth ". I have actually met much nicer and real people outside of the witnesses ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper

beksbks

Wow, some surprising answers here. I personally don't believe that if you need a fear or a reward to be kind and loving, that you are actually being kind or loving. I love people. Period. We are all making our way through this sometimes crazy, sometimes scary, sometimes beautiful life. I want to share the beauty, and ease the pain of anyone I come in contact with. I'm not saying it always works out that way, or I never get short tempered, but that is the goal. I have worked in customer service my whole life in one way or another, and my own personal goal, has been to have people walk away from me feeling a little lighter. I like to imagine that the next person they come upon will get some of that lightness too.

flipper

PROPHECOR- I agree with you living in the streets of Philadelphia would make it tougher to be kind. It's a tough city. Lots of crime so a person has to be on guard more ! I too was raised in a tough California city where there was a lot of crime. Bakersfield was tough to grow up in, lots of violent crime. So, as an adult I have found living in the Sierra Nevada mountains as my wife and I do in a small community, people are less rushed, friendlier to deal with than in a stressed out rushed city. I prefer that myself. But that being said, I would still help an old woman in the city if I saw her in need. Or somebody being hurt. Peace.

BEKSBKS- That is a great attitude you have ! Your lightness in your life attitude I'm sure wears off on your customers and others in a positive way ! I love people too, that's how I roll too

Are We Kind Because It's the Right thing to Do/Or Because "God"Tells Us To?

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