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Originally Posted by Calgaryborn
I think it is more like a relationship between a parent and a child. I love God and want him to be pleased with my conduct.
Christianity is a pretty big tent though so I'm not sure what motivates others. As a baptist(and this isn't true for all baptists but, probably most) I don't believe I can lose my salvation. It was given as a gift. Sin can ruins fellowship with God today and sin can also destroy my life just because of sins own consequences. But, I'm safe eternally.
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Ah, got it. I think I probably brought my own bias in by assuming that he was talking about judgement as opposed to talking about, shall we say, positive reinforcement.
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Atheists don't have a guide book for right and wrong. That doesn't mean they will be immoral people. However, everyone including christians like to rationalize their failures or the wrongs they have done. It must be a heck of a lot easier to rationalize an excuse for yourself if you don't have that guide book staring you in the face telling you you've done wrong.
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I can see that perspective. As an agnostic, when I try to rationalize a wrong that I've done, I know I'm being intellectually dishonest. As someone who prides themselves on having a well-reasoned moral framework, it gets to me and stays with me a long time when I go against it. Since it's something that I've worked out for myself, it has more importance to me than anything told to me by an external authority. Obviously not every atheist has a moral code, and a lot of people are going to weigh an authoritative guidebook above their own moral code. The two approaches are going to net the same result 99% of the time.