Kertook:
kat--Is Islamic domga just as valid and helpful a tool as Christian, in your mind?
I don't think this question is valid. It's like asking if a bank robber's car is as valid a tool as a taxi driver's car. Cars are cars, they aren't 'valid' or 'not-valid'.
Plus, it's extremely broad, since Islam and Christianity are both made up of a huge range of sub-groups, which use dogma in a myriad of ways.
For example, to focus just on the Catholic Church (which is handy because they have a single, well-documented dogma) ...
Their dogma includes things such as:
Jesus is the spiritual savior of mankind
Mary was assumed into heaven as a virgin
Murder is wrong
Priests must be male.
But what makes a dogma 'valid'?
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Do those various dogma's just encourage specific behavior, some of which is "bad" and some of which is "good"?
I would say if you went through the entirety of the RCC dogma, yes, most of it supports good behavior. Much of it that doesn't directly supports the framework which supports good behavior (Jesus was spiritual savior. Jesus said to do good works. Ergo dogmatic statement 1 still supports good behavior.)
A few perhaps do not (for example, limitations on birth control). But those decisions are results of debate and study; they aren't arbitrary. So you can disagree with them (I do), but even if you do disagree with them, at least you can recognize that the intent is for good behavior.
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Bad or good behavior by whose standards?
It's a mix, and it depends, of course.
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Is any individual the judge of which behavior is "bad" or "good"?
This is a very tough question, and really deserves its own thread. 'What defines 'good' is a cornerstone of philosophy, and probably not something we can adequately answered tucked in as a side argument here.
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Simple isn't it, just follow the prescription and you are acting "good" or "bad" until the dogmas collide, and then what?
Also a very tough question. Is doing good because you are told it is good sufficient? What is the moral 'weight' of doing bad when told it is good? (Dealing with a conflict between what you are told, I think, is much less of an issue, at least on the individual level).
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Sat 16 June 2012.