To ask if you are not a Christian, what non Christian values you live by?

[BlossomBlanket]

Just that really!

Being a good person, not because of threat of punishment or promise of reward.

I am an atheist but I've grown up exposed to Christian moral philosophy and I'm both interested in and influenced by it, definitely. I find a lot to be inspired by in the historical figure of Christ. Some values I live by and others I have rejected.

The values I live by (that spring immediately to mind):

Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself
A sense of gratitude for the ways in which I am fortunate / the things that are going well in life (though not personified towards a God because I don't believe in one)
Seeing the potential for good in those who have done / are doing evil, and the value of forgiveness (both towards others and ourselves)
The acknowledgement that we are all fallible but that despite this we can and should persist in our flawed efforts to do good
A responsibility to do good though it may not be easy
The courage to speak up in public for one's moral philosophy / values
An aversion to hypocrisy and harsh judgement of others
A feeling of love or a sort of camaraderie towards humanity, the idea that we are or should be on the same team
The value of love
An understanding of the moral dangers of wealth and greed, a cynicism towards capitalism
The idea that you should do right by others, do good for others, even if they treat you poorly and/or will never be grateful

Obviously I'm sure many of these values aren't only Christian but though I don't believe in the supernatural stuff I do believe in the relevance of the historical figure of Jesus Christ (or whatever amalgamation of people / philosophical movement that figure represents) as a moral philosopher. I think there's a lot of harmful garbage in the Bible but some very important groundbreaking ideas about morality as well.

Hope that answers your question.

I just realized I misread the thread title, treating your slaves well IS a Christian value.

Old testament or New testament, they're very different

OP, Do you believe that these beloefs come from the bible?
The human race has survived for many yrs before the bible even came about, before Jesus was alive (if you believe in him) way way back in history before reading and writing families would care for and work together for the sake of the whole community. That is a caring society and yes we may have developed laws and rules, but it stems from this.

Be a decent human being
Treat others well and look out for them.
Love those special ones around you.

I don't know what I believe about Heaven and Hell. I'd like to think if there is something 'after' then scum such as murderers/paedophiles get their comeuppance. But I think 'God' would be a ompassionate and caring figure who would welcome anyone who has led a good life in, regardless of what you believe in. I don't believe in the teachings of what would stop you getting into Heaven. And if there is something then all our families and our pets, yes pets, will be there !

On the other hand this could be it!

I was brought up christian, church if England. Went to church , was also an altar girl at one point. Now don't really believe, but happy to discuss. Still enjoy a good hymn sing along and can recall all the responses in the Sunday service.

I believe that children shouldn’t be abused, that’s pretty none christian.

Universal Unitarianism . I. E. Everyone is on their own spiritual journey whether Christian, Buddist ,Muslim ,Jewish or atheist.

I don't want to cause anyone hurt or upset and I want to be kind to others in general. I think it's morally wrong to be unkind to others. White lies I'm fine with if it's to spare someone's feelings but deceit and lies generally are always a mistake.

If being deceitful and telling an outright lie could save someone's life, would that kind of blatant lie be ok?

I live by “don’t get mad, get even, no matter how long you have to wait”.

Exactly that. There will be times when you cannot, for valid reasons, pick the kindest/ most empathetic option. But you should do the rest of the time.

Most religious people I seem to meet are pious, smug, hypocritical and backstabbing. Sorry!

I don’t like any mainstream religion

i lean towards paganism and I have an internal moral code that I live by which is basically along the lines that whilst I am here I should take responsibility for that and and not rely someone else to do something eg a tonne of litter was left at the beach the other night so I did my best to move what I could. Really to leave the planet better than I found it in my own small way and do what I can.

Outside the Gospels bits of the New Testament have a very Old Testament vibe.

@MiddlingMarch I haven’t heard anyone else mention the Tufty Club for about 40 years! We always use it as code for someone showing off about their achievements ‘member of the Tufty club, 10m swimming certificate….’ Thank you!

As you were.

Islam only diverges so noticeably because it's the youngest of the Abrahamic family (to date). Jewish and Christian cultures exhibited the same behaviours in the past, similarly justified by scriptural readings of much the same texts.

In 600 years' time, Islam will have flexed and softened as Christianity and Judaism have. Like its older siblings, it will have selected different parts of the shared credo to keep and to sideline.

@Abend asked: For those posters claiming to be critical of religion across the board, does this include literally all religions or are there any you appreciate a little bit, or conversely dislike more than others?

I despise all religions. It may be hard-wired in us to seek parental figures who tell us what to do and that it'll be all right in the end. It may be natural to worship or similarly elevate charismatic individuals. It may be understandable that limited reasoning capacity fosters belief in the supernatural. To me, these are all weaknesses and inimical to human wellbeing.

I think the Enlightenment is the best thing that's ever happened to humanity. The religions I despise the most are the ones putting up the strongest resistance to reason, the scientific method, individual freedoms, secularism, progress and reform. At present, Islam is one of those.

This question is immediately complicated by the fact that ‘Christian Values’ have changed over time. In fact, Christians themselves don’t follow a lot of the ‘values’ set out in the Bible. Eg. Their stance towards homosexuality, females, divorce, sex before marriage, sex in general.

We are animals, and we are motivated mostly by our animal instincts. And those particular instincts are the ones that have been naturally selected to promote survival, so they include those instincts that allow us to operate as a community. Thus, I follow my gut instinct, of what I feel is right and what is wrong.

You can withhold a truth or even outright lie if necessary. So for example a Christian social worker who is very obviously bound by confidentiality rules can refuse to give out information or even in rare cases lie if the person asking is doing so with evil intent. It's about the right know.

Wait what???

I was a member of the tufty club!! Its on my CV!

As a pagan, I try to do no harm.
This is a lot harder than it sounds.

And for the finer details, I really like the way of Pratchett.

Omg completely misread I think the question of your post.

As to non-Christian values, I think feminism, environmental custodianship/responsibility, rationalism, skepticism/having a critical mindset (in the sense of questioning the validity/truth of ideas), curiosity, open-mindedness, autonomy, tolerance, anti-authoritarianism and belief in the value/importance of democracy. I also strongly believe that slavery, racism and homophobia are wrong.

I would say these are ideas which the Bible / Christian teaching omits or condemns, and even for modern/"enlightened" Christians are in conflict with the patriarchy/misogyny, paternalism/authoritarianism, faith-based approach to truth, lack of tolerance towards non-Christian viewpoints, concept of blasphemy and so forth that are basically fundaments of the religion.

The division into old and new testament is artificial and not what the early Christians believed. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of Goda] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Was the god of the old testament wrong? Did make a mistake?

If it's not ok to kill someone, then what would you do with the trolley problem?

If a person does not pull the lever are they responsible for the death of the group?

I would do nothing
I didn't put anyone on either line or have any involvement with the situation so I would do nothing at all, its not my problem.

Oh look. It’s another goady anti-Christian post on Mumsnet. What religion do you follow OP?