“ What to say to a man who tells you he prefers to obey God than to obey men, and who is consequently sure of entering the gates of Heaven by slitting your throat?” Dr Richard Reilly Wrote an essay published in Philosophy Now, in which he discusses how he approaches the topic of “Questioning God” with his students. Reilly begins with the above quote from Voltaire—not in the published version, only in the copy given to his students—where he captures his main idea in one simple statement. If a man is truly loyal to his idea of God, then a man standing in his way will perish by his “holy” hands. Throughout history humans have made it clear that, because we are social creatures that live in relation to one and other, Religion will always be a
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“ ‘Who are we to question God?’ they say.”(Reilly 1) He alludes to the fact that most religious individuals find the idea of questioning their faith to be a sin to some degree. Reilly uses bible stories to illustrate that the people in history who did in fact ask these hard questions, weren 't even philosophers, but “characters in the scriptures of the worlds religions.”(Reilly 1) His first example is Abraham ( Genesis 18:23-32) who frankly, does nothing but question God. Abraham is told by God to go to the sin filled cities of Sodom & Gomorah and kill all who lives there as an act of God himself. Abraham finds the idea of killing for god to be puzzling and questions it throughout his journey. Most religious people today would say that, if God gives you a task, there is honor and virtue in doing it, even if the lives of others are a cost. Abraham sees opposite and because he is brave enough to question God and his commands, God hears his plea. Abraham tells God “even if there are even a few innocents left in the city, God should not destroy them.”(Reilly 2) Because Abraham followed his intellect and emotion, and didn 't just blindly follow God, he was able to stop the slaughter of thousands. By using these stories, Reilly constructs an ethical appeal to the readers sense of morals. Yes, some follow blindly, but even here one man made a difference just by a simple …show more content…
Reilly goes on to say“ Why shouldn 't I question your beliefs about God? Do you mean to tell me you 're infallible…Are you saying that you know God better than all the millions of people in the world who disagree with you, including the rest of us in this classroom who may be just as sincere in our faiths as you are in yours…?”(2) Dr. Reilly appeals to the readers sense of morality when putting you into the seat of his classroom, and being forced to deal with the idea of something you believe with more than just your brain, being questioned by others who see the world in a complete different way. Any human (unless a psychopath, who has no ability to feel empathy) holds the capacity to see that all humans are entitled to their beliefs that have been instilled in them from birth, in some
“ ‘Who are we to question God?’ they say.”(Reilly 1) He alludes to the fact that most religious individuals find the idea of questioning their faith to be a sin to some degree. Reilly uses bible stories to illustrate that the people in history who did in fact ask these hard questions, weren 't even philosophers, but “characters in the scriptures of the worlds religions.”(Reilly 1) His first example is Abraham ( Genesis 18:23-32) who frankly, does nothing but question God. Abraham is told by God to go to the sin filled cities of Sodom & Gomorah and kill all who lives there as an act of God himself. Abraham finds the idea of killing for god to be puzzling and questions it throughout his journey. Most religious people today would say that, if God gives you a task, there is honor and virtue in doing it, even if the lives of others are a cost. Abraham sees opposite and because he is brave enough to question God and his commands, God hears his plea. Abraham tells God “even if there are even a few innocents left in the city, God should not destroy them.”(Reilly 2) Because Abraham followed his intellect and emotion, and didn 't just blindly follow God, he was able to stop the slaughter of thousands. By using these stories, Reilly constructs an ethical appeal to the readers sense of morals. Yes, some follow blindly, but even here one man made a difference just by a simple …show more content…
Reilly goes on to say“ Why shouldn 't I question your beliefs about God? Do you mean to tell me you 're infallible…Are you saying that you know God better than all the millions of people in the world who disagree with you, including the rest of us in this classroom who may be just as sincere in our faiths as you are in yours…?”(2) Dr. Reilly appeals to the readers sense of morality when putting you into the seat of his classroom, and being forced to deal with the idea of something you believe with more than just your brain, being questioned by others who see the world in a complete different way. Any human (unless a psychopath, who has no ability to feel empathy) holds the capacity to see that all humans are entitled to their beliefs that have been instilled in them from birth, in some