Around here they don’t bring out the Bible, they just have you hold up your right hand and respond with an, I do. Is it a true choice? I am convinced that it is simply an empty ritual for most people.
Would you advocate, instead, everyone placing his hand on the Bible?
Every relationship, civil, business, political, or domestic is based on our ability to trust one another. Trust comes from believing that we can count on the other person to be and do what they say they will be and do.
You're preaching to the choir. You do it with such vehemence that I'm not always sure you realize that.
And I am boggled by statements from people that say they just believe in something, or just have an ethical standard about something.
Jewel, I was raised to tell the truth and to not steal, just like everyone else here. I was raised on Roy Rodgers and all that white hat/black hat stuff just like everyone else. The ethics of that are etched on my soul. The only difference is that when I reached adulthood I dismissed my religious training as fairy tale. That doesn't mean I all of a sudden I did a 180 and started to lie and steal any more than Christian kids do when they learn the truth about Santa Claus. It didn't erase my ethical grounding, just put a different spin on it, one that makes me responsible to it without any expectation of reward or punishment in the afterlife--simply because I care about doing the right thing and being the best person I can be. Don't see what's so mind boggling about that. |
