Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does....I saw this quote on Facebook the other day, posted by a good friend. Someone who went from being a staunch Christian to ultimately become an agnostic who is outspoken against hatred, intolerance and ignorance. I think it was an interesting journey for him and one of these days, when we're in person, I'll ask him about it - unfortunately, he lives a bit of a distance away now.
I've often been asked about how it is that I have morality without having religion. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer, but I find it intriguing that people need the threat of supreme judgement to do the right thing. I can, of course, attribute my behavior to my family but they're equally as heathenish as I am and probably even more moralistic.
Many people fear consequence - doing the "right" thing out of fear of reprisal from society. But I mean doing the right things without fear - without threat of negative consequences....
I've discovered that I am a secular humanist. But that doesn't tell me why. I think that it comes down to reward - I feel good when the right thing is done and I feel badly when the wrong thing is done. But again, it still begs the question, why? Part of me thinks it is empathy. The ability to imagine what someone else is feeling. But I'm still not sure that that's enough of an answer for the question.
Too bad my ADD riddled brain was on this tangent and then was yanked into the world of helper monkeys, PCI compliance, facebook, and holiday planning with Boyfriend. Damnit. I'll need to revisit this later.
