It seems widely held that people should be treated as an end in themselves, as opposed to a means to something other. Is this a mistaken view?
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What does goodness consist in?
- Thread starter SonOfSophroniscus
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Solidlyhere
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I can treat someone well.
If I do, then:
1) They feel well about it;
2) God feels good about my action;
3) Hopefully, I will feel good about doing it.
Then, that person I treated with goodness, may feel better, and do something nice to yet a third person.
Spreading a little goodness in the world.
If I do, then:
1) They feel well about it;
2) God feels good about my action;
3) Hopefully, I will feel good about doing it.
Then, that person I treated with goodness, may feel better, and do something nice to yet a third person.
Spreading a little goodness in the world.
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Good deeds are pleasing to God. Selfless deeds that pious people do are pleasing in the Lords sight. God wants you to follow the LAW written in the Torah. Doing that then inevitably we will please him in all good deeds we do.
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Solidlyhere
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SOS asks: "How does one know when one has pleased God, precisely?"
This seems like a silly question.
Everything in Life is subjective.
If I think it's true, then (for me) it IS true.
If I listen to my heart (fortified by a clear picture of who God is to me), I can begin to listen to God ... speaking to me through my now-somewhat-purified heart.
One day, maybe God will use Western Union, and send us a telegram: "God is pleased with you for doing that today."
Until that day, each person, himself, is the judge.
If I feel that I have pleased God, then that's precisely how I know it.
If you think that I have NOT pleased God, that doesn't matter.
I am the one who should (and DOES) decide this Spiritual issue.
Sometimes I pray: "Oh God, did I do that right? Are you pleased?"
I usually am left with a pervasive feeling in my heart (a.k.a. my intuition, a.k.a. my conscience).
Much of Spiritual Life is based upon intuition.
First, I become a Christian, and develop some basic focus on "Jesus is Love."
If it feels like Love, then I learn to assume it is right (until I learn more, and know better).
This is the Human condition.
People seem to want things written-in-stone.
This shows a lack-of-Faith in God (and in me, a baptized server of God).
If God wanted us to never make mistakes, he would send-down an angel, and that angel would meet with us each morning, and tell us what God's will is for that particular day. Then, at the end of the day, that angel would tell me how I did. What i did correctly, what I did so-so, and how I screwed-up on some things.
I have no angel whispering in my ear.
It's my im-perfect Life, and I am half-blind to what God is REALLY all about.
I listen to my heart. Love lives in my heart (with God). That sacred intuition.
Follow Love. God is Love.
If I feel hate, that is NOT God.
Let your conscience be your guide.
And, if you haven't developed a humble conscience, talk to a Spiritual friend, or a Pastor.
Listen to their perspective. Try to believe it. If it truly doesn't feel right for you, find someone else to discuss this stuff with.
Then, over time, you can begin to listen to God, living right there in your own heart.
This seems like a silly question.
Everything in Life is subjective.
If I think it's true, then (for me) it IS true.
If I listen to my heart (fortified by a clear picture of who God is to me), I can begin to listen to God ... speaking to me through my now-somewhat-purified heart.
One day, maybe God will use Western Union, and send us a telegram: "God is pleased with you for doing that today."
Until that day, each person, himself, is the judge.
If I feel that I have pleased God, then that's precisely how I know it.
If you think that I have NOT pleased God, that doesn't matter.
I am the one who should (and DOES) decide this Spiritual issue.
Sometimes I pray: "Oh God, did I do that right? Are you pleased?"
I usually am left with a pervasive feeling in my heart (a.k.a. my intuition, a.k.a. my conscience).
Much of Spiritual Life is based upon intuition.
First, I become a Christian, and develop some basic focus on "Jesus is Love."
If it feels like Love, then I learn to assume it is right (until I learn more, and know better).
This is the Human condition.
People seem to want things written-in-stone.
This shows a lack-of-Faith in God (and in me, a baptized server of God).
If God wanted us to never make mistakes, he would send-down an angel, and that angel would meet with us each morning, and tell us what God's will is for that particular day. Then, at the end of the day, that angel would tell me how I did. What i did correctly, what I did so-so, and how I screwed-up on some things.
I have no angel whispering in my ear.
It's my im-perfect Life, and I am half-blind to what God is REALLY all about.
I listen to my heart. Love lives in my heart (with God). That sacred intuition.
Follow Love. God is Love.
If I feel hate, that is NOT God.
Let your conscience be your guide.
And, if you haven't developed a humble conscience, talk to a Spiritual friend, or a Pastor.
Listen to their perspective. Try to believe it. If it truly doesn't feel right for you, find someone else to discuss this stuff with.
Then, over time, you can begin to listen to God, living right there in your own heart.
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dayhiker
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I'd say let the love of God lead us to do what honors God. 2ndly, I'd say let the love in our heart do what the other person considers would be a loving act towards them. Dang, I always ahve a hard time wording that thought. But the other person gets to say what they feel is a good way for us to love them.
To me its that simple. Rules will often lead to a rebellous spirit from my observation. But a desire to love will lead to us being willing to sacrifice to help our freinds.
dayhiker
To me its that simple. Rules will often lead to a rebellous spirit from my observation. But a desire to love will lead to us being willing to sacrifice to help our freinds.
dayhiker
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Excellent, let us then examine your response.
Oh. Perhaps you weren't expecting the following claims:
1. If everything in life is subjective, then it is an absolute rule that everything in life is subjective.
2. If it's absolute, then it's not subjective.
3. Therefore, this form of subjectivism leads to a self-contradiction.
1. If it's all subjective, then so is the claim that it's 'all subjective'
And finally:
1. If it's all subjective, and subjectively held views are necessarily true, then so is the claim 'subjectivism is false'
2. Another self-contradiction?
Ishmael's problem, what?
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This much seems apparent; I ask for an answer, recieve a cryptic one, answer for an explanation and recieve something else which I need to ask the meaning of. Tis not my eternal questioning, but the dissatisfaction provided by said answers!
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dayhiker
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A pastor told me this many years ago, it still explains things better than anything else I've come across.
With our 5 senses we know the world around us.
With our soul we know ourself.
With our spirit we know God.
Now this doesn't mean that if we have senses that we know everything about the world around us. Information overload I think is how the military refers to their pilots situaiton when they have more info coming ito their brain than it can process.
dayhiker
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