"HeyBub" wrote in
m:

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I was asking for acute angle. I had to lose some wait, cause
I was considered obtuse.

Sorry if I was confusing. Let me restate.

I come from a tradition that teaches good works are good for their own
sake, not as an entrance fee to the hereafter and that was the message
I was trying to convey. My tradition teaches that dwelling on the
hereafter takes time and effort away from these good works and is,
therefore, discouraged.

On the other hand, if someone's faith holds that one earns entrance in
the world to come by doing good deeds, that's okay with me - the good
gets done and I'm not too anal about the motivation.

On the other, other, hand, there is at least one religion that
provides entrance to paradise is achieved principally by expanding the
reach of the religion. If this reach is achieved by forcibly imposing
the doctrine or killing apostates, infidels, and non-believers, that
earns the actor a ticket in first class. And maybe even virgins.

Point is, if one's motivation is driven solely by a desire to enter a
better place, the worldly results of that desire can be quite wicked.

I am more of an agnostic, but still believe in the performance of good
works (or whatever name you'd give it) as an end in itself. Even
helping the ltlle old lady across the street she wants to cross is a
good deed, although there are and should be "bigger" things to strive
for. The abuse of virgins is just that - abuse. Even the thought
should be abhorrent, unless the virgin really wants to shed the
appellation.


--
Best regards
Han
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