A Christian Nation?
A very interesting conversation I had with a guy on one of the forums I frequent has prompted me to think about the perceived connection between Christianity’s moral beliefs and the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights (and the rest of it, really).
I think About.com’s post here sums up the logistics of what most people would argue as far as the language of the law is concerned, but let’s talk for a moment about the possibility that the roles may be reversed.
Just for kicks, take a moment and join me on an “atheist’s view” of the world:
If we assume that man created God, then we make the same assumption for the “word of God”, or more specifically to this conversation, the 10 Commandments. Suddenly, it becomes easy to see that ideologies based on “common” morality (and by common, I mean socially accepted) don’t necessarily have to be born of deity.
Or, in other words: “Thou shalt not kill” isn’t Christianity, it’s common sense.
A general understanding of ethics shows that these 10 rules purportedly sent down to Earth by God are really just a re-iteration of basic, fundamental human morality, or more specifically, the principle of enlightened self-interest with some fear-based propaganda built in (honor no other idol, shalt not say the name in vein, etc).
My purpose here is not to create atheists (contrary to the claim of some hate mail I’ve received LOL), but rather to challenge people’s minds to entertain other possibilities.