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Just like you would die for your children, God, in effect, did the same for His. Now because He is God and not man, He had to make special arrangements by coming in human form, and because He is a triune being, He could be put to death and yet still maintain control of the cosmos.

> "That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them..."

(2 Corinthians 5:19; now, that was Paul, and you don't like Paul, but the man did have some revelation!)

It is natural for one to prefer the well-being of one's grandmother or kin or themself over that of others, but I would have to say it is immoral by comparison because Jesus shows us a higher morality. He said to love your neighbor like you love yourself. More than that, love even your enemies!

> "For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the random Africans (I'm paraphrasing for you) do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?, Don’t even the random Africans do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:46–48).

But the human heart is wicked and has to be remade so that our love can go beyond what is natural and the amazing love of God goes beyond the natural. By dying for you and for me, Jesus did, in effect, sacrifice Himself for some random stranger. YOU are like the random African Jesus DID die for. Even though we are all by virtue of creation God's children, we are separated from Him, strangers to Him, and hostile toward Him until we make peace with Him through Jesus Christ. And when He creates a new heart within you, then you can love others, and even your enemies, like you love yourself, and even more than you love yourself.

a source familiar with the matter 1y ago

"you can love others and even your enemies like you love yourself"

twisted

"and even more than you love yourself"

evil

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Discussion

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

By what standard are you judging? Your own twisted and evil heart?

a source familiar with the matter 1y ago

I won't continue a conversation with personal attacks. Good day.

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

Please forgive the offense, which was not intended. I come from a tradition where nearly everyone takes their own sinfulness for granted.

a source familiar with the matter 1y ago

I don't imagine that I am holier than others, but I do not find myself automatically evil or sinful either. I think it is unhealthy for those of the Abrahamic faiths to find themselves automatically sinful.

I am of the belief that evil is best considered a deprivation of good.

The base of my moral system is my own vitality - ultimately culminating in reproduction. Thus I value my own survival and the survival of my progeny above all else. Then I place a secondary value on the life and success of my kin, and then ethnicity, race, species, and so on.

So, my sense of moral concern is very much the heat map with the bright spot in the center.

I suspect that Christian morality was historically successful in part because it suppressed conflict behaviors (among other purposes). I don't believe that I need to adopt self-sacrificial morality in order to avoid conflict (in fact, I think a morality of sacrifice engenders conflict). Instead, I seek trade (more generally, mutually beneficial engagement) or disengagement (if mutual benefit is not possible) which I believe are more productive (better for me) behaviors.