by Najar » Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:35 pm
Morality distinguishes right from wrong , and I would trust my own conscience.
Reading religious texts and deriving morals from there have always posed problems for me.
I have read thru Bible several times (not just King James , even the Catholic & orthodox versions) and read Koran recently twice (two translations) .
Both OT (assume Torah is same as OT) & Koran are replete with advocacy for killings , slavery , robbery - all sanctioned by God & Prophet and I can hardly accept these as 'moral' acts.
Though present day Muslims & Jews by and large stay away from practicing these texts , the religious text is always there for those inclined so. And Christians have killed a lot more in
warfare , practiced slavery etc.. despite Christ's preaching to treat others the same as yourself. You just need a convenient 'preacher' to interpret the texts in a different way.
During early 20th century , Ikhwan used to rob Haj pilgrims on the pretext that they were not religious enough.
If one is mentally retarded (i.e no capability to have a well developed conscience) they may need religion to guide them for most part.
If you are criminal or convoluted , then there is no behaviour that is out of bounds.