What about personal responsibility ?

Submitted by David (United States), Jan 1, 2007 at 16:24

These religious demands are taken too seriously, if these people really believe that God or Allah or some profit is commanding them to do or not do something, from killing, murdering, to respecting others as equals, then are they not also including the idea that they are acting that way only because some higher power or authority dictacts rather then they as human beings see it as a better, more ethical behavior? Why do you kill "infidels"? "The Koran commands it, its not my idea... " "why do you love your neighbor as yourself,?" "Because Jesus said too, it wasn't my idea, it has nothing to do with me..."

See the shirking of personal responsibility? Where does it end? When does an individual decide these things and other more personal matters for themselves? Its one thing to accept a religions dictates because you personally agree that it IS truly the wiser more ethical course of your action, in that case then it can be said that you happen to agree, then its quite another thing entirely to refuse your own personal attempt at a rational analysis of the ethics involved and simply go the dictates of ones religion... in my 'church' I would judge those who refused personal responsibility more harshly then those who refused to even try to accept personal responsibility. I don't doubt those that make sermons tie these ideas into personal acceptance so its been rigged for a long long time.

Pipes is smart to point out the media overload on these issues, it could be said that they are in a very real sense driving this madness into our hearts and minds, can we sue the media for intentional infliction of emotional distress?

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