Religious types often ask me how it is a non-religious person can "have any morality". It's really just a sense and consciousness of how one's actions affect others.

To illustrate: I recently (finally) saw the movie The Kite Runner. There were a couple of memorable quotes from the father of the main character in that movie.

In the first, he says, "The mullahs want to own our souls, and the communists tell us we don't have any."

In the second, he replies to his son, who asked him if he thought anything was a sin, by saying, "There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness."

To me, this sounds like morality. And it is as good a guide to life as any, and far easier than most to understand.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2010 06:45PM by helamonster.

and religion has the final word on it.

Which is just another lie; we can be educated in philosophy, ethics, cultural values and humanity which all have systems to define moral values that religion refuses to acknowledge.

Religion is bidding for power and authority in our legal systems, our goverment and our culture.

That movie keeps popping up on my netflix recommended list.

I also notice it's available streaming.... would streaming be okay, or is there a lot of scenery, etc, that would be appreciated better with a blu-ray disc?

Some sections are sub-titled. Might be difficult to read the print if you stream it.

It's definitely worth a watch jpt, a fantastic film.

helamonster Wrote:
> To me, this sounds like morality. And it is as
> good a guide to life as any, and far easier than
> most to understand.


Yeah, I agree.

It's like George Carlin's reworking of the 10 Commandments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzEs2nj7iZM