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Edited on Tue Aug-04-09 03:10 AM by RandomThoughts
I have heard the argument that you are only in sin when it causes shame. Might sound like a weird doctrine, but many groups teach it. It is literally teaching how to be a sociopath.
I believe that to be a false doctrine. I am not saying what is sin for everyone, nor claiming to be able to judge that. But I believe we have a mind and heart that knows when something is sin, and from that sin is not just ignoring what our heart shows us.
There are some comments in the Bible that can be interpreted to believe if you think you are doing right you are. Even many laws requires intent for many crimes. However the Bible, and many other texts also speaks about doing right, and explains those things. And more importantly we were given a way to know if something is right or wrong, think and feel on it. There is a reason we feel some things are wrong, and a reason most people, that think on it, agree to that. Everyone makes mistakes, my point is that they are not just mistakes because you feel shame about them. In my belief there is more to both society and the way we were meant to be.
Unfortunately there is a large subset of people, they interpret their religion as meaning 'to sin is just to have shame.' That is not a small doctrine, it is in many places. And it has been attributed to causing bad in many things.
Yes if you do not know something is wrong, you could be innocent, but that does not mean pretending like you do not know something is wrong counts. The burning up of ones conscious is a typical teaching point to many 'groups'. If you don't care at all, then suddenly, in their view, you no longer sin, strictly because you are not ashamed. That is the anarchy view of the forces of the supernatural. It is 'do what every you want, as long as it does not bother you.' view of life, followed by, 'learn to not feel'.
If a person believes wearing a hat is a sin, then it is. If a person believes wearing a hat honors God, then it does, because that is the intent. But notice wearing a hat most of the time does not usually hurt other people. Sin also includes actions that go against the heart all people were given. However since people are not perfect, they also have a way to receive forgiveness from sin. In my view, that does not mean they get to decide what sin is by just not caring. There are complexities to it, some people hurt others while acting in love protecting others, in that it becomes more difficult. But people for the most part know when something is wrong.
There are many groups that preach 'do what you want', they almost all use secrecy, they almost all hurt large groups of society. And they almost all believe in 'don't care' as a doctrine.
The fight scene at the end of the movie Angel, had an interesting difficulty with that point.
Angel-"The people that don't care about anything, will never understand the people that do." Hamilton-"Yea but we won't care"
That is why much of it is so hard, if people believe it is only shame that is sin, they find ways to accept not caring, and from that even having a discussion is difficult, since they don't want to learn a different point of view. They don't need to be explained the other point of view, they actually already know it, they however argue disingenuously, and most of the time they are deceptive in comments.
Because they already know their argument is wrong from a view of what most people think and feel is moral, they just don't care.
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