I need specifics.  If someone offers you a ham sandwich and it's against your religion, what's wrong with saying it's against my religion?  I don't get it. 

I think his point is that if something is against your reglion then you should automatically find it so repusive that doing it isn't an option.  He appears to be aguring against the fact that people use their good book as a guide for life and mearly use their internal though processes.

That was a very short article, so I am quoting it here basically in full:

 

Why not? Religion gives us guidelines for moral behaviour. Why is it not a good reason to follow a certain system of morality?

 

 

Why? And what does it have to do with "like"? I _like_ ham (I have nothing against it). But if it is against my religion, I don't eat it. Religion doesn't tell me not to like ham. It just tells me not to eat it. You can eat it, I don't mind.

 

There is nothing wrong with eating ham sandwiches. There is also nothing wrong with having your kid baptised or naming it after the patron saint of Ireland (Patrick). None of these things are wrong. But some religions forbid them.

I don't see why a Jew should find eating ham sandwiches "wrong". What is the moral value of eating ham? Assuming that eating beef is OK, eating ham certainly doesn't have a different moral value. Dead animal is dead animal.

Judaism forbids (Jews) the eating of ham. But it doesn't make any statements about the morality of eating ham per se.

So why should I find eating ham objectionable?

Come here and eat a ham sandwich and see if I care.

 

What does that mean?

Follow, yes, but you should avoid it with a knowledge that it's wrong, not merely preached as "wrong".

Again, yes, but you should not avoid it just "for your religion", you should see the consequences.

So we should only follow the laws of our religion when we can see the full consequences of our actions? For how long? If I can plot out what happens for the next 50 year after following god's rule of letting those who work on Sunday live is against his will should I then follow it?
Or are you just referring to the thought that god will dislike you?

No, we should consider potential consequences of those actions, so we can know why to avoid said actions.

Do you really have to ask?

Why work when you can claim an excuse not to, and because God says it, it's not sluggishness? It's one of those self-rewarding rules.

God loves everyone.

I think I'm hearing you on this, Erathoniel. Like, you shouldn't say murder is against your religion - you should be against murder for it's own sake, too.

Then, when they ask you, "Why is it against your religion?" you have a solid answer. "Because doing that hurts myself and others."

It's not against my religion to give advice, but that doesn't mean that my advice won't lead to harm anyway. But it is against my religion to murder, because no matter what it will lead to harm. (God will still make it work out for good, but a lot of pain could have been avoided)

Thank you, Jythier.

Eating ham doesn't have any consequences that eating beef doesn't have.




Without moral guidelines, murder doesn't have a moral value and their is no "own sake".

Lions murder each other in the wild. It's nature.

I'm not saying that these moral guidelines must be a religion. They can be based on any humanist philosophy as well, even nationalism and certainly utilitarianism. But without such guidelines, murder doesn't have a moral value and is just an action typical for nature.

That depends on how you cook it. You can cook a blood rare beef steak, but its not a good idea to do the same with pork.

 

Yep, see, one of the points of Kosher law. The Israelites did not have cooking directions.

Hardly a moral consequence.

Yes, but it's included in laws so the Israelites don't have to learn everything the hard way.

True.

If I might chime in here:  When people reply, "Its against my religion" I think that are saying that they want to abide by their faith's precepts.  Most religions have precept ceremonies in one form or another.  When we take these precepts, it means we are making them our own and promising not to violate them.  So, in effect, its a shorthand answer.

Be well.