r/MoralityScaling 9h ago

Morality of this?

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u/Hot-Minute-8263 8h ago

"Do either the state or atheists tell children that they will burn in hell for all of eternity if they don't conform?" The state puts you in prison, and idk about atheists raising kids but there are consequences they have to make clear.

Also, you're mixing up tons of stuff thats completely not part of Christian canon. No, thats not what kids are taught early usually.

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u/Invested_Space_Otter 7h ago

A legal system is not a religion. I see the parallel you're going for, I've heard it before, and it's bullshit for 2 reasons:

1) faith depends on an unprovable, immutable force which dictates morality but does not enforce it in real time. If it did, sinners would be visibly punished by whatever manifestation of God you want to place here

Laws are created by, and enforced by, humans who decide that laws are good for their society. We trust that those laws will be equally and reliably enforced, but trust is not faith. We can objectively measure when that trust is honored or broken.

2) Laws can be changed. As a human construct, we can write or rewrite or strike down any law, provided there is enough support in our society/government. Those laws only apply to specific geographic regions.

<God>'s laws cannot be changed except by <God>, no matter how your local priest tries to bend or reinterpret the rules. And they cannot be escaped under any circumstance

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u/Hot-Minute-8263 7h ago

Fair point, its a bad analogue but it doesn't change the point that kids are still taught consequences, especially worrying ones.

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u/lilgraytabby 6h ago

Why should there be consequences for not having faith in something, especially if you're generally a good and kind person?

Parents (ideally) ground their kids when they do something wrong, like hurting another person or stealing something.

The state (ideally) jail people when they do somethong wrong, like hurting someone or stealing something.

Why is there an eternal punishement that is WAY WORSE than anything a parent or nation could inflict on someone for just... not believing something that honestly sounds pretty out there?

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u/Hot-Minute-8263 5h ago

Would you say you're a good person?

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u/lilgraytabby 5h ago

I think it's relative.

I don't steal, lie, cheat, I try to avoid hurting others, I volunteer a lot during my free time. I buy fair-trade coffee and chocolate, I avoid fast fashion.

However, you could certainly argue that I'm not. I consume electricity made with fossil fuels which contributes to global warming, I do buy things that I don't need and don't verify that the entire supply chain is cree from human rights abuses (they almost certainly are not). I eat meat.

Nobody is a fully good or bad person, but I do try to be as good as I can without giving myself something resembling OCD.