I'm kind of surprised at the answers so far.
Here's the deal-
According to every belief system (or none) on the planet, we all share one idea that is made absolutely bullet proof by its agreement by all regarding morality-
I'd say that a consensus regarding such a controversial subject might come in handy when pursuing a philosophy about it, wouldn't you all?
Everyone agrees that there is a greater propensity for human beings to worry about morality than less evolved creatures. After all, when a lion kills a gazelle because she is hungry, or has to feed her little ones, there is no dispute that she has not sinned.
When a kitten kills a bug that that kitten has been "playing with", no one would accuse that kitten of murder, would they?
There is the total and undisputed agreement that man, and only man, can sin.
There is an agreement of another kind that gets less press, but is easily as accepted.
The reason that man sins is because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before you atheists get too excited, let me explain it also in this way- The reason that man sins is because only he understands that there is such a thing as good and evil! Moral questions and the ensuing philosophies about morality are all based on the fact that we understand that there is such a thing as good and evil in the first place, right?
I am an atheist, by the way.
For all we know, the stories of Adam and Eve were inspired in the first place by the observation that animals cannot sin, but man is faced with this dilemma about morality. You can't argue that morality is a human dilemma, and the reason it is is because of our abilities to consider the question in the first place.
So let's all agree that there was an Eden Threshold that human beings crossed at some time in history. Let's all dispense with our differences on how that crossing came about, because that is not important to the goal of understanding morality.
Now, I suppose I must appease Christians who think that there is a very important difference. Let me remind you of Jesus' words regarding your ability to determine morality. "He that is without sin, cast the first stone." "Even the pagans can love their friends, what's the benefit of that?" And of Paul-
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This is the sort of thing that you are asked to show for each and every person on the planet.
It seems that morality can be based on human law, and that there is no such thing as absolute judgment by human beings regarding any action- that your Savior would support. Send someone to jail? No problem. But withhold love from them by virtue of your own ability to determine their sin? No way.
Unless, of course, you are sinless yourself.
That all being said- here is the answer to morality-
Each and every one of us is born a baby. We experience things that show us how things work. We ALL decide what to do at any given moment with the absolute best result being our goal. In that way, we are all as innocent as the cat that plays with the bug. NO ONE, and I mean no one, decides what might be the best path to follow, and ignores that path in favor of the "second best" or "worst" path. Not one person in history has ever done so. All act according to their interpretations of the absolute best action.
In that way, we are all moral. That's not really true according to reality because we are not equivalent to animals that have no idea about morality, but our actions based on our experience are really no different.
What causes immoral actions are immoral experiences.
When love and acceptance are conditional on human expectations that are based on human interpretations of morality, then we only prove that Jesus was right. Human interpretations of morality are generally based on one thing and one thing only.
Fear.
And it isn't realistic fear either. It is, instead, fear that is based on human emotion.
We have crossed the Eden Threshold, and our fears are based on our knowledge that there is good and evil. It seems to me that Jesus (and others) have tried to tell us the folly of such fear because we are not capable of determining the difference. Even according to Christianity, such knowledge is the gift of Satan. It is the innocence of children that pave the way to the Kingdom, as was stated in the Gospels without the need for interpretation.
Let's consider the greatest immoral human beings of all time, wonder why they chose exactly as we would have (because they are us), and try to discern what fears they had that were caused by human beings who were greatly inspired by their own fears.
Then, let's further determine what might have been had they been the recipients of the love that Jesus (and others) have commanded.
The only thing standing in the way of loving your enemy is the idea that your enemy does what he does because he has chosen the second best, or worst, action while considering the best thing to do. That simply doesn't happen in reality among human beings!
And when Christianity itself is the catalyst of hatred with regard to the actions of others, then Christianity is making a mockery of what Jesus (and others) taught.
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