I think "fear" rhetoric is generally pretty destructive. Fear doesn't produce an intelligent or thoughtful relationship with the world around us.
Discussion
That’s always been a hang up with most religions for me.. good “moral” behavior because of fear or reward. I prefer, in my life, the person who simply chooses to be a decent person for the sake of being a decent person.
No one is a decent person for decency sake. Lol
If people have been decent to me, why would I want to be anything but decent to them? If people haven't been decent to me why would I want to emulate that? Decency is basically the only thing compatible with rational self interest.
What do I get out of ruining life for others? Is theft & destruction a fulfilling sort of pursuit? Is killing someone or in some way scarring a person for life not going to haunt me?
I find it a bit concerning when people don't seem to understand that being a good person & doing what is right (even if it's hard) is the path to building self respect & any sort of meaningful sense of satisfaction in life.
Agree with this completely.
You don’t realize that your language and your reference to decency as “good” suggests an ultimate objective good, AKA God.
But if you follow your logic, you're not being decent for decency's sake, your being decent because you see that that is a more beneficial way to live. That's it's practically self-serving to be decent. In other words, you are decent for your own sake.
And you are right, that is the best way to live.
Well, yeah. I don't think there's any such thing as altruism & I think "self sacrifice" is basically always evil. I don't think it's actually accurate to call what Jesus did "self sacrifice." I think Jesus was tortured & killed because he helped people on the wrong day & he refused to accept that as wrong. He refused to give up reality & renounce who he was. It was a refusal to deny the truth & to sacrfice himself & reality to authority, and that is the greatest gift anyone can give people who are being ruled over by tyrants.
That’s a broken mindset.
I think the translation is the problem.
The best explanations I've heard describe it as either an obedience/submission to God,
Or
"filial” fear, because it like the fear of a child who is afraid to hurt the feelings of (or disappoint) his father because of their mutual love.
I could definitely see that being the issue, most of my bible study has suggested similar problens elsewhere. If I were to give my own "translation" of the provided quote it'd be something like:
Don't be arrogant (or have an appreciation for how little you really know), seek & respect the truth, & avoid chasing pleasure, power, or status at the expense of truth.
I can certainly agree with that
I don't think it's destructive at all. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. In a paradoxical way, if you fear God, you live fearless and free.
Okay... So what does it mean to fear God? Because that just doesn't sound particularly motivating to me. What am I fearing exactly?
I'm also much more concerned with what goes on in this life, here & now, than I am in some imagined after life. The actions of most people would suggest they are too, no matter how much they claim otherwise.
It means to respect Him, as in one who has authority over you life, very much like a parent and child relationship. The fear is not like being terrified of a momma bear protecting her young, but of the discipline that comes from a loving parent.
The understanding a young child has that his parents know more then him and have their best interest at heart is what is represented here. And like many kids, we all think we know better as we get older, and that's how we end up with dragshow story time.