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Selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin (Selfishness (Non-Christian Views…
Selfishness, greed, ignorance and sin
Selfishness
Non-Christian Views
Thomas Hobbes - the most basic law of nature is to ensure own survival and we can use others to selfishly achieve this. We have rules to stop people being too selfish.
Evolution is survival of the fittest. Those that use the resources possible will be more successful. Therefore people are naturally selfish to better our offspring and the future of our species
Without a religious belief, it might be seen as acceptable to pursue your own interests only and only look out for your friends and family
Some people may argue that we shouldn't be selfish because we have a common humanity with others and empathy allows us to see beyond our selves
Some people may argue that we shouldn't be selfish because we have a common humanity with others and empathy allows us to see beyond our selves
Looking out for others, rather than just oneself can bring greater happiness
Christian Views
Christianity teaches that selfishness is wrong because people should have an active concern for others. The so called 'Golden Rule' (love your neighbour as yourself) makes this point very clearly. Christians should show concern for others
Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches Christians that those who help others unselfishly, no matter who they are, will have eternal life.
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches Christians that those who do unselfish things, such as giving food and clothes to the needy and looking after the sick, will go to Heaven
Christians look up to Jesus who showed agape love (unconditional love) to sacrifice himself so that humans who repent of their sins and believe in Him can go to Heaven
Due to original sin we are more likely to be selfish because through sin we turn away from God and showing love of others
Greed
Christian Views
The Bible warns against making money your master for 'No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money' (Matthew 6:24)
Rather than using more than your fair share of the Earth's resources and using them greedily, Christianity teaches that we should be stewards of the Earth and ensure that the Earths' resources are used equally amongst all
1 Timothy 6:10: 'the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil'. money is not itself bad, but loving money is
Jesus showed an active concern for the poor and was critical of the rich. On one occasion a rich young ruler cam to Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him that he should keep the law. The man replied that he already did that. Jesus then told him to 'Sell all you have a and give it to the poor'/ The young man was unable to do that and went away sad. Jesus then said 'it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God' although he goes on to say that with God anything is possible (story in Matthew 19:16-26)
For Roman Catholics, greed is listed among the seven deadly sins because greed involves worshiping money and possessions rather than God
The early Christians shared all their goods and money: No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they share everything they had (Acts 4:32)
For a Christian the greatest is to love God, therefore if someone loves money more than God this is a sin. A person should use their wealth to do good things and it should not come above loves of God
Non Christian Views
Greed is good
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It can also help you to do unselfish things such as sending children to good schools, giving them other opportunities. You can also give more money to charity with lots of money
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Greed is bad
It can lead to injustice, e.g. exploiting others to make money which is what many banks were doing before the financial crisis (including selling mortgages to people who couldn't afford them)
It can lead to unhappiness because you stop appreciating the important things in life e.g. friends and family
It can have long term nagative effects, e.g. spending more money than you have/gambling can lead to debt/
It can have a negative effect on your character meaning that you lose friends because you are obsesses with money
Ignorance
Non-Christian Views
Most people and societies value education and believe that children and adults should be educated on the laws of the country and how to be a respectable citizen
This includes educating people on what is right from wrong, including how to treat others and how to treat the planet.
Education is also important for future employment, To learn new information/skills and develop the brain, helps you to experience new things and develop an opinion on important matters, creates leaders of the future, provides opportunities and widens choices, teaches important social skills
Christian Views
Ignorance is not knowing or understanding the difference between right and wrong or what makes an action wrong
Problems with relying on reason to know right from wrong are: they can be distorted by sin, people can justify evil actions e.g. Hitler, they can be subjective (people disagree what is right from wrong), Children, dementia sufferers and some people with sever learning difficulties have limited ability to reason
Aquinas explained that when a person chooses to do something wrong (to sin) their reason has misinterpreted evil for good. He says that this leads people to pursue 'apparent goods', like money rather than 'real goods' like holiness
Although Christianity teaches that it is our responsibility to know right wrong wrong, Christianity also teaches that God is forgiving to those who repent and say sorry for their sins: Jesus did say 'father forgive them for they know not what to do' (Luke 23:34)
Sin
Non Christian Views>
'Sin' is a religious term, however, non=religious people also have views on wrongdoing. A non-religious word for 'sin' might be a 'vice' that is the opposite to a 'virtue' (a positive character trait)
Thomas Hobbes = Humans are naturally selfish, therefore humans are naturally sinful. Society makes laws in order to combat this and be successful
The theory of evolution is based on the idea of survival of the fittest. Those that compete most effectively for the available resources will be more successful and pass on their genes. We might argue that people are naturally predisposed toward selfish behaviour, that Christians would regard as sinful
Humanists don't believe that humans are naturally hood. They believe we have a tendency to do bad things )sin), but we can still develop a sense of right from wrong
Freud would say that the 'id' of our human nature tempts us to be sinful, e.g. be greedy, lustful etc. He argues that the Ego, controls this part of the self
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<Christian Views
Christians believe that all humans being are therefore born with this 'original sin' which can only be cleansed by baptism
Fundamentalist Christians often believe that all things said to be sinful in the Bible are to be avoided because they follow everything in the bible and in the bible it says not to sin
Because of freewill, however, we choose to sin. The first sin was committed by Adam and eve in the garden on Eden
More liberal Christians believe that the Bible needs to be interpreted, as many parts were influenced by the culture at the time
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Most Christians would accept the rules in the 10 Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount and that breaking these is sinful
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