whose job is it?

     The first time I opened a checking account, in the late 1970's, I was given a 45 minute lecture on how to use it. The lecture was not optional. Banks don't seem to feel responsible for educating their customers in the 21st century. Many of the young people don't even know what a check is, what interest is, or what might be considered fraud. Shame on the banks, and on all of the other businesses that no longer believe it's part of their job to tell consumers how to use their product.

a fruitless discussion

     I just watched a documentary in which a lot of otherwise rational people are drawn into a discussion about whether or not God exists. I find this discussion pointless, always, and I am surprised at some of the people who are witless enough to be dragged into it. If you continue such a discussion long enough, you will find that belief in God is not the philosophical dividing line that it is often assumed to be. Many people who claim to believe in God also claim that it doesn't matter what they do, either because they have no responsibility for their own behavior in the first place, or because God will fix it all up for them later. Other people who claim to believe in God also believe that they are responsible for what they do, and believe that they must behave accordingly.
     Many people who claim that they do not believe in God do believe that they are responsible for what they do. Others who claim that they do not believe in God believe that they have no responsibility for, or control over, their own behavior.
     The philosophical dividing line is responsibility, especially responsibility for our own behavior. Spend your time arguing about free will and responsibility, and leave God as a subject for theologians.

everybody wants to argue about God

     Everybody seems to want to argue about the existence of God--a fruitless waste of time. What I would like to see them arguing about is responsibility--as in does it matter what you do?  Some people who believe in God also believe that it matters what you do. Other people who believe in God also believe that it does not matter what you do.
      Some people who do not believe in God also believe that it matters what you do. Others who do not believe in God also believe that it does not matter what you do.
     If there is a philosophical battle line, this is it--does it matter whether or not we do the right thing? Or the wrong thing?


Suggestion--give up discussing God for a discussion of human behavior--"the proper study of mankind is man".