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RelMoral education and religion
A religious person's moral problem and its solution
Since monotheistic religions are accepted by
most of Earth's population and given that most of their
activities are based on two ideas from Israel's religion (which
is the
most ancient one: the messianic idea and the ultra-orthodox
idea.
The ultra-orthodox idea is accepted by all three and so we
shall explore it in order to examine how it encourages attaining ethical education and
what inhibitions
it sets against it.
According to the ultra-orthodox idea,
every person sins; that is, every person performs evil (which is
true), and must therefore be punished. There will come a
terrible day in which God shall descend on Earth to punish all
people. Unfortunately, this idea's conclusions are false,
since it is fundamentally impossible that God would punish
mankind for their sins, when He himself made them this way.
To our regret, instead of solving this most basic
moral problem, which is the doing of evil (to sin), the Jewish religion
instructed man to evade divine retribution by means of
offering sacrifices and, after the fall of the 2nd temple,
through ready-made pleas for forgiveness and mercy in daily
prayers, and specifically in the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
prayers.
What causes the Jewish religion to act this way? It's
impossibility to solve it, because of the belief that
man is a
negative
being who does evil (sins)
constantly by nature.
The sacrifices, which were followed by the aforementioned prayers, reinforced in the individual this
religious belief with
all the negativity it entails.
It is safe to say that this religious belief has brought
about the appearance of both the ultra- orthodox and messianic ideas.
This idea and its 'solution' was then copied by Christianity and Islam.
Islam even claims to have divine guidance for delivering mankind
from punishment. Thus began Islam's conquests, in order to bring
every person to become a Muslim and so to redeem them of
divine retribution. This turned every Muslim into a soldier of
God, and their wars into holy wars.
The Muslim religion instructs man to deliver himself from this
punishment through daily prayers, in which he quotes Koranic
verses. Unfortunately, this activity does not have the power to
deliver the devotee from the burden of sin.
Forced conversion to Islam and its consequences strongly damaged
people's spiritual development, which is the main
reason for the Egyptian and Babylonian cultural decline from the
heights they once occupied to their low present-day levels.
Note:
Not only have these religions failed to solve the moral problem, for
which the ultra-orthodox idea appeared, but they have also, to a
great extent, lead the world to the precarious situation that
we witness today.
God instructs us to solve this acute
problem
by leading people to the doing of Good,
through the proper observance of the Pentateuch's wise
Commandments, as presented
in the Hebrew book "Man and the
realization of his purpose" and in
this website.
Already within these lines, we detect a sharp contrast
between man's proper functioning and what the ultra-orthodox
principle strives to fulfill. Let us examine the nature of these
religions, according to the criteria described in chapter
"Moral functional Problems" on this website.
Man is a positive being. According to the ultra-orthodox idea, man is a sinner, and is therefore a
negative being. A person who holds on to this idea reinforces his
moral problem and will find it difficult to perform Good,
thus leading him to perform evil.
Man is an intelligent, evolving being.
The above-mentioned evil-doing, the repetition of a set prayer, which guides one to regard himself as a
sinner, i.e as a negative being together with the restrictions
that religion
imposes, damages one's self-esteem as well as one's intellectual
and creative positive development. The fear of punishment adds
to it. We also detect that extremely religious populations
usually deny their children basic information vital for their
natural functioning.
All these reinforce a religious person's imperfection,
causing him to misfunction and keeping him at a low level, where
he is increasingly dependent on God's grace. One is therefore
easily manipulated and used for negative causes, often in the
name of God.
Note: The repetition of a fixed, preset content
given by "authoritative" sources throughout a person's life is the most
powerful form of brainwashing, and indoctrinates one to function
automatically in accordance with that content. Thus,
it's easy to recognize the beneficial or harmful effect religion can
have, depending on the contents of its prayers and on whether
they're correct or incorrect.
Actualizing the
Pentateuch's divine improvement process.
Unfortunately,
to this very day, these religions have not detected this process
nor presented the correct way of observing the Pentateuch's wise
commandments which lead to its realization.
The sections "Man's
Divine solution" and
"Heeding
God" in this site, lay out the
essential reason for this.
Evidence exists to demonstrate that
the ancient sages were aware of the proper way of observing
these commandments.
Had
Israel's religious leaders in the distant past, presented this
divine improvement process they would have improved its
adherents through it.
One of the main obstacles
preventing them from doing so, was their inability to admit that their predecessors' instructions
regarding following the Commandments given in God’s name –
were wrong. Therefore they decided to continue
with this false activity.
Following this crucial decision, the necessary adjustments were
made to continue it for a long time, as well as changes, to
hinder the revelation of the divine improvement process and its
proper realization.
Among other things, one could mention:
-
The false observance
or the non-observance
of the wise Commandments which help realize the divine
improvement process (the page in the link proves and shows how man was supposed to carry
them out properly). Whomever knows the actual form of observance can identify
the false activity.
-
Making sacrifices
in the name of God, while His Honor actually opposes them.
-
Lowering the self-worth of
the worshiper and constraining him to
become a constant sinner
-
The continuous rejection of
the divine improvement.
-
Religion’s declaration that both the Pentateuch and the oral law
were given on Mt. Sinai, when in-fact only the Ten Commandments
were given
there
Despite all that, these religions also encourage positive
activities, such as:
Assisting others;
Reducing evildoing due to fear of divine retribution;
Constructing a more positive domestic atmosphere which
encourages spiritual maturity and behavior.
I must add that, despite all the obstructions which the
ultra-orthodox idea creates, mankind's natural traits have
enabled him to successfully break through the ultra-orthodox
structure and to function more naturally.
Thus grew a population of secularists, which belongs to a given
religion but stay away from its ideas and services.
Are
these religious people capable of providing
moral education?
They most certainly are. They possess a dramatic educational
setting: the daily prayer. If they would only
suitably alter the contents of their prayers
to improve ethical qualities,
it would also lead to the correct observance of the Pentateuch's
wise Commandments with all its positive consequences.
They will then be occupied in proper activity. In this way,
these religions would help us to perform Good in an increasingly
improved manner.
Then we will display the divine improvement to the world, and
thus bring blessings to ourselves and to humanity.
This can happen when religions will abandon their idea that
man is a negative being and will
accept that
he is a positive one.
This improved state will also lead to a dramatic, accelerated,
positive progress, thereby fulfilling the purpose for which
humanity appeared in nature.
All this, if only they would alter their prayer's contents.
This method is not alien to man.
It was already in use in ancient China. The regimes that
adopted Confucianism utilized it. A typical example can be found
in the
Moral Education page of this website. I must add that the
Pentateuch already contains all that is needed to bring a person
to morally improve himself in this way too.
In summary, I would like to present and interpret
Isaiah's unique prophecy
(Isaiah 2:2-4).
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain
of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations
shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and
he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for
out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many
people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
What would God specify in His verdict, which would cause
these many nations to act thus? Only their
functioning with a high self-esteem can accomplish this.
Therefore, the dramatic statement in God's decree would be "I
have created you in my own image, therefore you
are valuable people ". Accepting this truth would lead these nations
to behave thus.
Then they shall flow to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob (which is Jerusalem), yearning to walk
in His paths.
Then (after a long delay) would the Law go forth from
Zion and the Word of God from Jerusalem.
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