You don't need religion for morality, nor philosophy though. Especially not any particular religion. Those things existed long before any modern religion existed, and will exist after. One doesn't need to believe in such things to know not to kill or steal, because generally people understand the harm that comes with it. In addition, the morality you speak varies wildly from religion to religion, indicating how dependent it is on opinion rather than fact.
Many Catholics think the current pope is incorrect with regards to his morality and philosophy, but who are they to say he is incorrect? They may disagree, but how do they know that their god has abandoned what they considered to be canon, and the new philosophy is the correct one? There is no static morality, whether we're talking about in space or time, so that argument doesn't really hold much weight. It's not something that is universally and independently quantifiable.
Where do you think your personal morality and philosophy came from? You didn't come up with it. You were born into the western world which has a culture that was shaped by Christianity.
That's not true, even infants show semblances of morality before they can even talk. Morality is more genetic than it is cultural, as we have evolved to be a tribal species. In addition, most Christian morality actually came from the religions that came before it. Do you believe in the ten commandments? Well, that's Jewish philosophy. Do you subscribe to the moral lesson behind the flood myth? Well, that's Sumerian philosophy. You guys really have no idea where the core ideas of your religion come from; they predate history itself.
Did you just read the Epic of Gilgamesh for the first time and have decided you know everything there is to know?
Morality is not genetic. Morality is passed down by culture. A culture that you are brought into day one. Each time you step out of line as a small child, an adult corrects your behavior. Each time you do good, an adult affirms your behavior. You were not born with morality, you were not born pure, you were born and molded into what you are.
There is a codified book that has been used for roughly 1,900 - 2,000 years about what the beliefs of Christianity are. This includes philosophy and morality. It's pretty obvious if you read that book, what the influences are.
I'm going to assume that you would like next go on about how the Catholic church rebranded demigods as saints and took over the holidays. At that point I would point at the Orthodox church and ask, what about them? Or then I would point at the Mormons and say, what about them?
It's pretty stupid that you would assume that in this day and age people have not studied ancient Babylon or Egypt.
No, actually I studied neuroscience in college and understand that behavior, including morality, is genetic in nature. Now sure, culture can push things in a certain direction, but culture is a reflection of the population's genetics, not some arbitrary overlay on it. This is why African countries are shit holes (both culturally and economically) and other countries are not. You're falling into the civic nationalist/neocon trope that dirt is magic, and you can change people by changing their upbringing or culture. That is not true, and in fact it's the reverse. Christianity took off because it aligned with the genetic predisposition of Western nations, not the other way around.
You don't need religion for morality, nor philosophy though. Especially not any particular religion. Those things existed long before any modern religion existed, and will exist after. One doesn't need to believe in such things to know not to kill or steal, because generally people understand the harm that comes with it. In addition, the morality you speak varies wildly from religion to religion, indicating how dependent it is on opinion rather than fact.
Many Catholics think the current pope is incorrect with regards to his morality and philosophy, but who are they to say he is incorrect? They may disagree, but how do they know that their god has abandoned what they considered to be canon, and the new philosophy is the correct one? There is no static morality, whether we're talking about in space or time, so that argument doesn't really hold much weight. It's not something that is universally and independently quantifiable.
Where do you think your personal morality and philosophy came from? You didn't come up with it. You were born into the western world which has a culture that was shaped by Christianity.
That's not true, even infants show semblances of morality before they can even talk. Morality is more genetic than it is cultural, as we have evolved to be a tribal species. In addition, most Christian morality actually came from the religions that came before it. Do you believe in the ten commandments? Well, that's Jewish philosophy. Do you subscribe to the moral lesson behind the flood myth? Well, that's Sumerian philosophy. You guys really have no idea where the core ideas of your religion come from; they predate history itself.
Did you just read the Epic of Gilgamesh for the first time and have decided you know everything there is to know?
Morality is not genetic. Morality is passed down by culture. A culture that you are brought into day one. Each time you step out of line as a small child, an adult corrects your behavior. Each time you do good, an adult affirms your behavior. You were not born with morality, you were not born pure, you were born and molded into what you are.
There is a codified book that has been used for roughly 1,900 - 2,000 years about what the beliefs of Christianity are. This includes philosophy and morality. It's pretty obvious if you read that book, what the influences are.
I'm going to assume that you would like next go on about how the Catholic church rebranded demigods as saints and took over the holidays. At that point I would point at the Orthodox church and ask, what about them? Or then I would point at the Mormons and say, what about them?
It's pretty stupid that you would assume that in this day and age people have not studied ancient Babylon or Egypt.
No, actually I studied neuroscience in college and understand that behavior, including morality, is genetic in nature. Now sure, culture can push things in a certain direction, but culture is a reflection of the population's genetics, not some arbitrary overlay on it. This is why African countries are shit holes (both culturally and economically) and other countries are not. You're falling into the civic nationalist/neocon trope that dirt is magic, and you can change people by changing their upbringing or culture. That is not true, and in fact it's the reverse. Christianity took off because it aligned with the genetic predisposition of Western nations, not the other way around.