A visitor has once again raised the question of God’s relationship to goodness over on my Question page. Because folks sometimes forget to visit that page, I’m alerting you to our discussion. federfluesterin writes:
If one could, for once, imagine God’s point of view, being good would mean to fulfill the one, central, and most important act, God wants mankind to do: remember him, by prayer, by meditation, by attitude. Being good in a vertical way. Concentration on God leaves by definition little, if no, room in the soul for other than god, as would evil be. Thus, being good in this sense, would, depending on the level of constant concentration, result in being good in the already above described, more horizontal ways.
My first responses are: Can goodness exist in isolation from God or can it only exist in God’s sight? Are atheists, therefore, doomed to evil? Is there a secular equivalent to worship of God? Would contemplation of goodness work?
The visitor’s comments are more detailed than the quote, so it’s worth visiting the page.
