Choices

I was thinking about this today. About how each individual chooses to lead their life. How, in the everyday, seemingly small and trivial choices, how we think, our values and belief systems guide us in this.

ie:

1) Take person who believes in Karma and gives up his or her seat for the old granny despite having had no sleep or is aching all over. It is very tempting to reassure oneself that good things come to those who do good and shrug away the sacrific, however small it is.

2) Little boy or girl puts his 50cent pocket money into the homeless guy's cardboard box and feels bigger, puffed out, that they'd done something good. And the benign parent beaming on who says, :"good boy, god will bless you."

3)People who do things that they don't really instinctively like but still do, for the sake of 'moral', 'duty'...'moral duty'. Because despite doing this instinctively unpleasant thing, God or whatever divine being will bless them. This really pains me.

4)The taken for granted assumption that blatantly religious individuals, ie: muslims, christians,buddhists,taoists,jews,bahais...etc will have understandable moral codes. I think this is ultimately what is comforting for most people. That people know or more easily have a grasp/gist of what another person will be like, in their behaviours, their choice making...christians may automatically feel comfortable with another christian because they know they both believe in the same holy book, the same god, the same commandments. (I am speaking in generalisations here)- but this general comfort factor lies in also the easier identification process with others, of say...the same race, culture, gender, age...etc.

5)People who aren't religious. are more suspicious. lol. I say this jokingly. More that, their moral codes, their belief systems are not so simple. They may be the complete opposite of a religious moral coding (which is highly unlikely) but they are more un-knowable. Religious people are suspicious of such, of someone who would casually but quite seriously say: "I don't believe in God".

6)Non-religious people. Perhaps Atheists themselves, if should choose to be moral. Aren't they more moral then, for the very principles that morality stand for and because they exercise 'free will', to enforce choices...more ethical, more just? Should then, there be a God...should he not appreciate more so the intellect and choices such people make regardless of his rules, instead of following just because "he told us " in this tome of holy words of so much controversy...transcribed so many thousand years ago?

Is the concept of Karma...and perhaps also by implication, the idea of religious moral coding and God, Judgement day...so bad if it keeps people who arent inclined to be moral or good and more 'base'...to rein themselves in? Would they be far worse, if without such possibility of divine justice hanging over their heads?

We see alot of shit happening in our world, in the name of blind faith, religious fundamentalism, blatant ignorance and arrogance and the brazen use of idealogies to champion filth, degradation and violence...but could it be much worse?

I don't like this idea, any more, nor do than I approve of this...but can this be what is keeping people in check?