Re: why do we fear God?
We have to meet Allah Alimighty..we have to appear before Allah Almighty and He will ask for all ur deeds...wht all we have done ...thn Decide OUT Final desitiny,..
Re: why do we fear God?
But are peoples' good actions based on fear, really good people? Or just acting good? I think there's a difference. We should do the right things based on the right reasons, not for selfish ones based on fear. If for instance you want to help a little old lady cross the street, the right reason to do is selfless and obvious. The less impressive (spiritual) reason to do it would be for a reward of a quarter or you were afraid your daddy would spank you if you didn't.
A popular belief amongst atheists and agnotics is that is the reason man created religion was to keep those who aren't spiritual or without good morals in line. To appeal to their selfish emotions through fear or through some type of carnal reward in the hereafter.
Wouldn;t atheists who do good be more honorable and noble than a Christian/Muslim who does good? The atheist is doing it for selfless reasons, not caring about punishment or reward, whereas a believer will do it out of hope for reward or fear of punishment.
Re: why do we fear God?
Wouldn;t atheists who do good be more honorable and noble than a Christian/Muslim who does good? The atheist is doing it for selfless reasons, not caring about punishment or reward, whereas a believer will do it out of hope for reward or fear of punishment.
Exactly I know what marx,stalin, lenin and mao have done for there selfish reasons.
Honorable in what way i wanna answer this one but chodo live in your own barbie world, and i respect your decision.
Re: why do we fear God?
I fear oh I do fear.
Whatif all the believers find out there is nothing after death. Ouch.
Re: why do we fear God?
I fear oh I do fear.
Whatif all the believers find out there is nothing after death. Ouch.
What do all the disbelievers find out there is surely something after death.
One more thing LB forget about all religions, all beliefs, for me as an individual i feel that there should be a day where the truth should come out, and all conspiracy theories are thrown aside.
Like i feel each and every human being should be accountable in the sense i wanna know the truth regarding so many htings in life.
Just my 2cents
Re: why do we fear God?
Wouldn;t atheists who do good be more honorable and noble than a Christian/Muslim who does good? The atheist is doing it for selfless reasons, not caring about punishment or reward, whereas a believer will do it out of hope for reward or fear of punishment.
I would think that the whole idea of being a HANIF (pure monothiest) is to shun all manmade notions about God, that somewhow He requires ritual "worship" and that He has an "accounting book" in which our bad deeds must somehow balance or surpass our good deeds... The traditional concept of worship and book-balancing usually this is drilled into peoples' concious since their early childhood and is usually based on fear: "Stay away from so and so or get zapped by God".
I would think that shunning such manmade notions about God is better than blindly worshipping them, or that which one's forefathers worshipped (eg, Aad, Thamud, Fir'oun etc etc). Muslims, Jews and Christians (and almost all organized religions) have fallen into this trap.
I think that The Magnificent Reading (Quran il Majeed) portrays God as such a Transcendent Being, that there is no real form of "worship" to Him. It instead proposes His worship by:
1) closely following the Prescribed System (Salaat)
2) economic reform towards eradication of classes/poverty (Zakaat)
3) social engineering and collective training, (Saum)
4) propoer judicial system and institutionalization, (Masjid wa Bait)
5) emmigration to other countries to encourage reform, ('Umrah)
6) dialogue/debate with other nations at the national level (Hajj)
7) being the best example in the collective sense (Tasbeeh)
It should be noted that the above are not what one would call elements of a religion, but of a constitution. The Quran calls itself al-Kitaab which translates to a CHARTER (document/law) or CONSTITUTION... so in my opinion, the purpose of the Quran is to take people away from organized religion, into a more social or humanistic state of living.
So, in my view, athiests (I believe they are not really athiests) who do good because they believe it is the right thing to do, are a whole lot more more muslim (submitters to the Will of God) than most muslims who commit vicious atrocities against humanity in the name of Islam.
But yes, I think I have ranted too much today...
Re: why do we fear God?
^Hmmmmmmmmmm i can see something smelling fishy that too with the above post just transcending some other level.
Re: why do we fear God?
^Well as I have indicated throughout the post, it is my opinion...
Re: why do we fear God?
What would you call "right reasons"?
We all should know the right reasons. We don't need religion to teach us the Golden Rule or it's the right thing to do to give charity and help.
[quote]
Again, most people do good is because it appears the right thing to do and it makes them feel good about themselves. So basically people do good to please themselves. Similar reasoning help me justify fear/reward of God as the most valid reason for doing good or staying away from bad; at least it is the least selfish of reasoning.
[/quote]
The good feeling is the reward. We all have that instinct, to feel good. The by product of helping others is that it makes you feel good. That's not selfish, it's just a matter of fact. IMO it is not selfish to do it because it is the right thing to do (even it makes you feel good about yourself). But to do it because you expect some other reward in addition to the feeling you get or out of fear for not doing it is much more selfish. You still get the good feeling either way, let the rewards/punishment fall as they may.
Re: why do we fear God?
^Well as I have indicated throughout the post, it is my opinion...
Salam brother h2k,
Thats fine.
Take care.
Re: why do we fear God?
Hi Semi,
Its out of tangent but what is the christians take on fear of God.
Thanks in advance,
Regards.
Re: why do we fear God?
I fear oh I do fear.
Whatif all the believers find out there is nothing after death. Ouch.
Peace Light Bearer
If there is nothing after death then there is nothing to worry about as we won't have knowledge of it for we would be nothing more. So the believers will never find out that there is nothing after death, because if there is nothing after death then nothing will be around to let the believers (at which point, who will also not exist) know that there is nothing. The scenario forsakes the clause of the argument. I'm surprised you have even stated such an illogical scenario.
However, the other way round? Well that is cannon fodder don't you think?
Re: why do we fear God?
Auther: Hazrat Ali (R.A)
[QUOTE]
There are many people who obey God to gain favours, they act like businessmen trading with God, while there are some who obey Him to keep away from his wrath, they act as slaves, but there are some who obey Him out of gratitude and obligation; These are the noble and gentlemen.
[/QUOTE]
Re: why do we fear God?
That god must be really a sadist for threatening his followers to hell if they don't worship him. It is like telling parents giving birth to their children, only with a condition that they lick their feet or else they will be put into some orphanage or even worse.
Re: why do we fear God?
Hi Semi,
Its out of tangent but what is the christians take on fear of God.
Thanks in advance,
Regards.
Just like with anything else in Christianity, there is no monolithic view on this subject, it's all over the board. I think in general, the old testament scares the crap out of everyone while the new testament is about the things Jesus preached - forgiveness, love, charity, tolerance, peace, etc. It's focused more on the positive aspects of religion and not the scary "do this or you are going to hell" kind of thing.
In my personal experience, those who preach the scary stuff are not as spiritual and do not adhere to the types of things Jesus taught compared to those who focus on the positive aspects of God. The hypocrites amongst Christians usually fall into that group as well.
Re: why do we fear God?
Thanks a lot Semi.
Re: why do we fear God?
We all should know the right reasons. We don't need religion to teach us the Golden Rule or it's the right thing to do to give charity and help.
The good feeling is the reward. We all have that instinct, to feel good. The by product of helping others is that it makes you feel good. That's not selfish, it's just a matter of fact. IMO it is not selfish to do it because it is the right thing to do (even it makes you feel good about yourself). But to do it because you expect some other reward in addition to the feeling you get or out of fear for not doing it is much more selfish. You still get the good feeling either way, let the rewards/punishment fall as they may.
Well! These are our personal opinions and I cannot disagree to yours more than I agree to mine. Regardless of the faith behind a good deed, its positive aspects should outweigh religious prejudices.
Re: why do we fear God?
That god must be really a sadist for threatening his followers to hell if they don't worship him. It is like telling parents giving birth to their children, only with a condition that they lick their feet or else they will be put into some orphanage or even worse.
Peace ssingh
You see Islam has an answer for all and sundry. Your answer would have some weight had it not been for one essential detail.
We believe that we were created as souls. Every soul was shown Paradise and Hell ... Every soul was questioned whether we want a chance to enter Paradise then we would have to go through a trial with the freedom to choose and earn sin and the chance of going astray and finding our way into the depths of Hell. Those who feared Hell chose not to go through the trial would be made the animal souls and all creatures of God that do not have to give an account.
For the greedy souls (i.e. you and me) who wanted Paradise were made in to Jinn or Mankind and sent to the World for the trial. It was our choice to come here now we should meet the challenge.
There is more ....
God Created us for no other purpose than to worship Him. By allowing us to deviate He Shows to the angels and onlooking souls the fact that He does not need us. Worship of God is in our benefit as it is in our design that the worship of Him will bring us goodness. Likewise not doing so will be going against our design and that will be harmful for us.
Your analogy is therefore wrong. It is more closer to the following ...
A parent telling their child to eat and if they don't they would be harmed. The harm obviously comes when people do not feed themselves they go hungry and ill. The same is the case with the spirit. Nothing in existence exists with a purpose other than to worship God. Your analogy is wrong because licking ones feet is not a requisite to life, but eating is.