I am not a nihilist.
The reason you can’t commit that sin is because it’s just plain wrong to sin. Evil, in other words. Within Christianity, you don’t get to choose “lesser” evils. You are making the mistake of trying to mix common sense and Catholicism.
You don’t get to rewrite Catholic theology.
Faust, I know you are stating from all of your posts in this thread is what you perceive as Christians values. It appears you understand those theistic tenets better than some Christians I know. You hold up the end of this debate very well.
I have read the Bible, much of it many times. I have read a lot of Catholic theology. I haver read most of what I can find of medeival history - much of which is the history of the Catholic Church.
Christian morality is simple. As Imp says - you don’t get to make a lot of decisions. Christian morality is not act-based (as is Utilitarianism, in my view - despite some controversy about that, most of which has been settled) - it is rule-based. And the circumstances of this life is not the point - eternal bliss is the point.
Which is why Nietzsche calls Christians the true nihilists. I don’t know if I would go quite that far, but Christianity is the religion of death, and not of life. It’s what will happen after death that really counts.
So don’t worry about those hundred people, MJK. They’re going to a better place.
No, of course not. Look at that face. He’s a little angel. How could you kill him?
Well done. You have explained my brothers side of the argument perfectly. He is in fact crazy.
Come up to the religion forum and discuss my Ethics (not for a class) paper:
http://www.ilovephilosophy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=165750
Specifically read the section “Moral Conflicts: Contextual Absolutism: the Greater-Good View” here: http://theswordandthesacrificephilosophy.blogspot.com/2008/08/sword-and-sacrifice-philosophy.html
The paper is pretty much just thrown together and needs work, but it’s a start.