Why would it be important to a god that people believe X? 

It seems that for most forms of Christianity, the most important thing is to believe X and then to behave within a certain framework that defines one version of morality.

However, if one does not believe X then operating within that moral framework is completely ineffectual and irrelevant.

Why would a god be concerned with whether or not any person believes X?  Why would it be important?

Mar 23, 2012 -- 1:56PM, dio wrote:

Yes thats the question, to my mind Christianity seems to be more concerned with correct belief than correct behavior.

What is behavior without thought?

What divides immoral behavior from moral behavior?

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:13PM, Paladinsf wrote:

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:09PM, Burnman wrote:

Mar 23, 2012 -- 1:56PM, dio wrote:

Yes thats the question, to my mind Christianity seems to be more concerned with correct belief than correct behavior.

What is behavior without thought?

What divides immoral behavior from moral behavior?

Perspective. The fundamental question is here.

Interesting. I see no way thay "perspective" is the answer that the author is an answer to my two questions though.

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:36PM, Heretic_for_Christ wrote:

It is not just a matter of behavior. First, I see no correlation with better versus worse behavior and this versus that type of religious orientation. Second, all relgiions and cultures seem to arrive (independently or otherwise) at acceptance of the Ethic of Reciprocity as a good guide to behavior.

Yet docrinal religion is obsessed with establishing uniformity of belief. That is exactly why the church's creedal statements were written. Little differences in beliefs could be grudgingly accepted but there had to be agreement on the big items.

Why? So that if I say "I am an Ockflorpian," everyone will know what I believe about the Great Tentacled One From Neptune.

But why do I care whether anyone knows what I believe about Ockflorp? Isn't the important thing that Ockflorp knows what I believe? Ockfllorp knows my heart without my saying a word. So why do I have to make a public proclamation about it? Yes, it is written in the Book of Ockflorp, "He that denies me to his fellows denies them the chance to know me" (7:20-21), but refraining from making public proclamations is not the same as denial. (Ockflorpianism is non-proselytizing.)

So the only reason why I would make a public proclamation is to impress others. "Oooh!" they will think. "That guy is one of those cool Ockflorpians!"

Finally, why should the church care about uniformity of belief? Because otherwise, people will go around believing any old thing, and then there would be no need of churches to tell them the right things to believe.

For the churches, uniformity of belief is a matter of institutional self-preservation.

I have an easier time understand why some people want to enforce a uniformity of belief on other people.

What I don't understand is why a god would consider as the principle metric of a human being is whether they have the right view of X.

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:27PM, Burnman wrote:

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:13PM, Paladinsf wrote:

Mar 23, 2012 -- 2:09PM, Burnman wrote:

Mar 23, 2012 -- 1:56PM, dio wrote:

Yes thats the question, to my mind Christianity seems to be more concerned with correct belief than correct behavior.

What is behavior without thought?

What divides immoral behavior from moral behavior?

Perspective. The fundamental question is here.

Interesting. I see no way thay "perspective" is the answer that the author is an answer to my two questions though.

Nor would I expect you to.

Your failure is yet ANOTHER example of how simply believing this stuff corrodes reasoning ablility.