I guess I'm making this topic to ask what you think on this. I know there are many christians on the board who believe so, but heres my points of why i dont think there is sin :
People that murder and rape are assholes
People that disrespect their parents in extreme ways are ignorant
People that scam are douchebags.
People that serial kill are sociopaths.
So no, I don't believe in sin. I believe it is aggression based on emotion. Murdering isn't bad because the bible says "love thy neighbor" and "do not kill", murdering is bad because its being a plain jackass.
While we do do temporary things, I strongly believe its based on emotion, not a God or Deities wishes.
I do believe there is sin, and I don't think religion really has to be attached to it at all. In my view, there are certain things you just KNOW are wrong. You don't have to be told. If you cheat on your significant other, whether you feel remorse for it or not, you know it is wrong. If you do drugs, even if you publically say it's good, you know in truth it is not (even if someone tries not to admit it to themselves at times.) And obviously murder and the like are bad.
Those things are sin. Even a sociopath who has no feeling has the mental capacity to at least know what is right and wrong (which is why they can be convicted of crimes and sentenced without being declared insane.) It's easy... Things you know are wrong are sin. There are various degrees of it, but what's wrong is wrong. There aren't many grey areas, and when there are, in your heart of hearts you still probably know what is right.
The problem with your analysis of jackasses, assholes, and sociopaths, is that you make it too black and white. The fact of the matter is that not every murderer is an asshole, not all scammers are douchebags, and not everyone that disrespects their parents is ignorant. We are all very varied people, and we cannot set ourselves on some high horse apart from these people.
In different circumstances who knows how we would all behave? And as things stand, I doubt we are all angels here. We've all done things that are wrong, and I would highly doubt anyone here is excluded from that. Does that mean we're all assholes or ignorant douchebags? Of course not.
There is always sin, I think, but the key difference is a person's ability to admit their wrong's to themselves and make a genuine effort to correct it. Sin is almost never excusable, however it is... hm, how to put it... Understandable. At times. When circumstances made taking another course of action very difficult.
For example, having a happy relationship and a spouse that loves you, then going out and f**king around on them because you're bored. Inexcusable and not understandable.
Having a terrible relationship and a spouse that is violent towards you, then f**king around on them. Still inexcusable, but perfectly understandable.
I think that's what makes the difference between a good person and a bad person. Everyone sins, but the good people take extreme conditions to do so. Cheating is never right, but the above situation is about as close to right as it could be. Of course the real solution should have been to get out of the relationship fully then see other people, but given the abusive circumstance, one can see why the cheating was done.
The ones without hope are the ones of the first example. They are the assholes and ignorant douchebags that you speak of. However, I don't think most of us are so impulsive and uncaring. Most of us fall somewhere in between, and you can't well catagorize us all as douchebags and jackasses, can you?
Once more, the key is in controlling yourself, and realizing your wrongs, then correcting them. Some wrongs can never fully be righted, but you need to do so as much as possible.
To summarize:
Okay, yeah, I went off track a bit
but yes, there is sin. But things are not as black and white as you made them out to be. There are many types of people, and we all sin. And it's not even that vague what sin is... Even if you do an activity and don't feel bad about it, you are perfectly capable of knowing in your heart if it is wrong to do. When you know in your heart that something you have done or will do is wrong, those things are sin.
READ READ READ! --> It may seem like I'm some christian fanatic. I'm not. I don't go to church on Sunday. I don't claim any religion. I don't care if you do. I'm not trying to convert your religion. I don't care if you believe in God or not. I believe these things true regardless of the existence of any God.Just had to clarify that. Thank you
Edited by BrknPhoenix, 07 March 2006 - 10:52 PM.