Religion is not a necessity for one to have morals. It absolutely has a big influence on how a religious person defines their own moral code, but non-religious people aren't any more or less likely to have morals than anyone else.
There are verses, and it’s been long discussed, even in the Bible in some ways, about the righteous unbeliever. Virgil was considered one in Dante’s time. Note that this is not in contrast to the unrighteous claimed believer, but the person who actually does what the Bible teaches.
It’s so, so much harder to go that path, though, and there’s really no reason to not try and bring oneself into faith. I suspect that the hardest part for people like this is they can’t visualize what it looks like. Frankly, that was my problem on Sunday that was causing me to believe the prior day’s events were faked. Once I slipped over to just simple belief that it was miraculous grace instead, that problem went away.
It is perfectly possible for someone to live a just life without believing in God, but what is the benefit, at that point, in rejecting grace and forgiveness and guidance?
I frequently see people say that the US was founded on religious principles, specifically Christianity. But whenever I ask them what those principles are, and how they are exclusive to religion, I never get an answer.
I will happily write this up for you, but it’s going to take me some time. I know they’re there, but it’s going to be some effort to find them and aggregate and write and whatnot.
Religion is not a necessity for one to have morals. It absolutely has a big influence on how a religious person defines their own moral code, but non-religious people aren't any more or less likely to have morals than anyone else.
There are verses, and it’s been long discussed, even in the Bible in some ways, about the righteous unbeliever. Virgil was considered one in Dante’s time. Note that this is not in contrast to the unrighteous claimed believer, but the person who actually does what the Bible teaches.
It’s so, so much harder to go that path, though, and there’s really no reason to not try and bring oneself into faith. I suspect that the hardest part for people like this is they can’t visualize what it looks like. Frankly, that was my problem on Sunday that was causing me to believe the prior day’s events were faked. Once I slipped over to just simple belief that it was miraculous grace instead, that problem went away.
It is perfectly possible for someone to live a just life without believing in God, but what is the benefit, at that point, in rejecting grace?
I frequently see people say that the US was founded on religious principles, specifically Christianity. But whenever I ask them what those principles are, and how they are exclusive to religion, I never get an answer.
I will happily write this up for you, but it’s going to take me some time. I know they’re there, but it’s going to be some effort to find them and aggregate and write and whatnot.