So...

[kandrathe]

From above;

Christianity told us that we'd go to hell without virtue and codified our behaviours.

Not quite true. I'm not sure exactly where the inference of "hell" came from in Christian teaching, but it was certainly not from Christ. The Christian teaching, if I understand it correctly, is that there is a universal struggle between good and evil. The path of dedicating oneself toward goodness leads to somthing called salvation, which is explained as an eternal blissful existence with the force of good. The path of either indifference, or wickedness leads to death.

Well, I couldn't really tell you. The tone may have put you off, but it's definitely not meant to be a slam. Frankly, I think that the majority of Christ's (the man's) teachings ARE confirmable as "reasonable". To my mind, his immortality is of secondary importance to his teachings. Then again, I don't really know where I stand. Part of me thinks that to make a leap of faith on the basis of fear when reason and sympathy alone can (IMO) come so close to confirming his teachings is to become a slave. Part of me wonders if there's more to it than that. My future father-in-law basically condemned me as a heretic the other day for asking such questions, but I have a feeling that God will forgive me if I make a mistake. Maybe not. Maybe it doesn't matter. I certainly hope that "living the good life" and searching for real meaning is enough... then again, the bible basically says that it isn't. What kind of God would condemn someone who cares enough to search? Is that the kind of God I want to believe in?

Well, here is an interesting parallel to the main topic. Again, from the *real* Christians that I know, it is not fear, stupidity, or slavery that drives them. They are as dedicated to Christianity as they are to their marriage, or children. You often hear bandied about the phrase "a personal relationship with Christ", which I think is their way of commiting themselves through faith. You should set aside your concerns about forgiveness, as I understand it, in Christianity you can be forgiven for anything anytime just by asking for it sincerely.

I was 100% sold on Socratic philsophy at one point; I was inspired. (Of course, I was also 100% sold on Marx, too, but that's another story...) Then I read Nietzsche for the first time, and then some Dostoevsky, and I began to feel an entirely different way, as though those "feelings" were nothing more than a sign of my weakness and fear of condemnation.... and that inspired me too. Anyways, the gist of my post was that Christian morality could potentially be conceived merely as an inferior form of Socratic virtue that depends on an inferior, yet more effective, means of propogation, that being fear.

Sounds like me, but at some point you can learn to discern what is constructive, and what is destructive. We are all traveling on this road to seek enlightenment. If you now mix in some study of Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan philosophies you may end up somewhere around me. Personally, I think we each need to make a decision about what we would like our lives to be like, and that is really all we have direct influence upon. If the truth of the universe and our purpose for existence is in any confusion, then let us all be deluded toward those philosophies that make us more like Socrates, or Mother Teresa, rather than Adolf Hitler, or Stalin.