Insight...

In Christianity, Jesus talks about the two great commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Palmer's corollary: Love yourself, or you won't be very good to your neighbor)

A long time ago (at least a few years) I figured out something interesting about that. How can you love God? How could you love this being who you can't see, touch, hear, smell, taste, or otherwise sense in an objective manner?

By loving what God is. And, the most lovable feature about God is "goodness". Sure, God is said to be powerful, and wise, but those don't inspire love nearly so much as goodness.

Love that which is good; love those around you. Nice commands, right?

Today, I realized there's a better statement of them.

See, one of the foundations of my moral reasoning is that morality is based upon interactions with other living creatures. "That which you do to unimportant rocks is unimportant" is something of a basis for this. If you spit on, kick, throw, or grind into powder, a rock that no one needs or wants for anything, you can't be doing something immoral.

Ultimately, morality comes down to what you do that affects others (people, and animals to some extent). And, love, in this sense, is not a passive, warm fuzzy feeling. It means to treat people right. (What "Treating people right" entails is something I won't touch here.)

And that's when I realized another way to restate these commandments.

Love what's right; do what's right.








I then realized that this didn't really *DO* anything. It didn't answer any questions, it didn't create any new knowledge. But I *STILL* think that the insight is important.

Insight...

In Christianity, Jesus talks about the two great commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Palmer's corollary: Love yourself, or you won't be very good to your neighbor)

A long time ago (at least a few years) I figured out something interesting about that. How can you love God? How could you love this being who you can't see, touch, hear, smell, taste, or otherwise sense in an objective manner?

By loving what God is. And, the most lovable feature about God is "goodness". Sure, God is said to be powerful, and wise, but those don't inspire love nearly so much as goodness.

Love that which is good; love those around you. Nice commands, right?

Today, I realized there's a better statement of them.

See, one of the foundations of my moral reasoning is that morality is based upon interactions with other living creatures. "That which you do to unimportant rocks is unimportant" is something of a basis for this. If you spit on, kick, throw, or grind into powder, a rock that no one needs or wants for anything, you can't be doing something immoral.

Ultimately, morality comes down to what you do that affects others (people, and animals to some extent). And, love, in this sense, is not a passive, warm fuzzy feeling. It means to treat people right. (What "Treating people right" entails is something I won't touch here.)

And that's when I realized another way to restate these commandments.

Love what's right; do what's right.








I then realized that this didn't really *DO* anything. It didn't answer any questions, it didn't create any new knowledge. But I *STILL* think that the insight is important.