The good person test

**Christian Soldier** · 06-16-2009, 11:23 AM

I have noticed in some anti-religious videos that I have been watching lately, one thing that many people don't like about religion is that they have to admit that they are not good. I here the statements "There are lots of good people in this world" or "I am a good person" so much on TV, in books, etc. So I have a way to resolve this. Lets take a test. If you are truly a good person then you should be able to ace this with flying colors. Just rate yourself on a percentage. I have to tell you though, I have never seen one person pass this test. Yes this is a ten commandment based test(and with the teachings of Jesus). The ones that have more than one part, according to the Bible you will be guilty of the first if you do any of them. So basically, they are the same thing in God's eyes. If you have done either in the ones with two question you missed the question.

1. Have you ever had anything placed above God? Even if you don't believe in God, you can still have something before him.

2. Have you ever made something so that you could have it before God?

3. Have you ever used God's name emptily.

4. Have you ever worked on Sunday?

5. Have you ever disrespected you father or mother?

6. Have you ever killed someone? Also, but in the same question, have you ever been angry with someone without cause?

7. Have you ever committed adultery? Also, but in the same question, have you ever lusted after someone? Have you ever married someone that has been divorced, divorced someone, or married after you have been divorced?

8. Have you ever stolen anything, no matter the value.

9. Have you ever lied?

10. Have you ever coveted anything?

**Kaeso** · 06-16-2009, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by Christian Soldier

I have noticed in some anti-religious videos that I have been watching lately, one thing that many people don't like about religion is that they have to admit that they are not good.

Although there probably are people like that, religion is hardly necessary for recognizing one's moral failings. In fact, one of the more common ethical objections to religion is that it is responsible for blinding believers to the nature of their own misdeeds: it can lead them to do bad things, thinking them to be good.

Originally Posted by Christian Soldier

Yes this is a ten commandment based test(and with the teachings of Jesus).

Do you really think that this is the kind of 'good person test' which atheists will consider meaningful? I think I can safely say that we tend to avoid the deliberate use of such divine command ethics.

**Blondin** · 06-16-2009, 04:24 PM

Seriously, CS, why on earth would you even bother to post this sort of tripe here?

What part of "I don't believe there is a god" do you not understand?

Your questionnaire looks a lot like the crap Ray Comfort uses to trick people into confessing that they are sinners.

If you really want to insist on dividing the population into good people and bad people then first you'll have to get a consensus on good and bad. I'll tell you right now that we (you and I) will never reach agreement on anything that involves accepting anything on faith. If you can't define a concept without invoking a god or the bible then please don't even bother trying.

Why don't you just try this exercise: see if you can summarize what makes a person a good person without mentioning anything to do with religion. Similarly, see if you can loosely define a bad person. Are they necessarily polar opposites? Is it possible for good people to do bad things or bad people to do good things and, if so, do they remain good or bad? What does a person have to do to change from one to the other?

Remember, no mentioning god, religion or any kind of scripture.

**zensunni** · 06-16-2009, 04:40 PM

Religious black and white, absolute mindset...

"Good person" depends on the context and what you compare it to. The most ideal way to make this comparison is to compare against the average person, not absolute perfection.

Could you imagine your boss making hundreds of rules to follow, and if you didn't, you were deemed unworthy? What would you think of a boss telling you that you weren't a good employee if you were one minute late after twenty years of outstanding performance and a perfect attendance record? Basically, no matter what you do, the standards are so high that no one can ever be a good employee.

This is what you're saying your god does. Sounds fair eh?

But most religions play this game. They say that god thinks you're a worthless person who deserves hatred and punishment because you don't measure up to standards that are impossibly high, then praises the god for such awesome forgiveness and love. It's such a load of BS.

You see this behavior in all kinds of brutal warlords and medieval kings and slave-drivers. It's just a way to make people think they're bad so that they have to depend on someone to give them self worth.

If god wanted us to live up to a standard like that, why didn't he create us with the ability to? Or, a better question, if we were able to be up to that standard, what's from stopping someone from making a religion with even higher standards?

Furthermore, the questions you have aren't even an indication of morality and ethics. What makes worshiping your god more moral?

Is this pretend god so full of himself that he has to deem it "immoral" to use his name emptily? Seriously, what if everyone else started acting like the christian god?

There are so many holes in the idea of this christian god, I'm quite amazed you still believe this nonsense.

**meezly** · 06-16-2009, 04:55 PM

once again, CS, you have demonstrated a false sense of superiority over us and a total misunderstanding of what life is really like without god.

I realize that you're not consciously refusing to try to understand us, but it's more like you really cannot fathom how we think and live our lives, can you?

It's like completely outside your paradigm, as you have never crossed over to the side of non-belief.

**Penguin** · 06-16-2009, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Christian Soldier

I have noticed in some anti-religious videos that I have been watching lately, one thing that many people don't like about religion is that they have to admit that they are not good.

Which ones? I've never heard that sort of thing in any atheist or anti-religious videos or podcasts I've seen or listened to, so I'd like to know where to find them.

All the objections I've ever seen to religion have been based on factual claims or on the assertion that religion (either a specific denomination or some depiction of God/god/gods) is not good. I've never seen any atheist say that they don't like religion because if they accepted it they'd have to admit that they aren't good. In fact, just about every atheist I've ever encountered will admit that they have their faults.

So... which anti-religious videos have you seen this in? Please be specific.

Originally Posted by Christian Soldier

I here the statements "There are lots of good people in this world" or "I am a good person" so much on TV, in books, etc. So I have a way to resolve this. Lets take a test. If you are truly a good person then you should be able to ace this with flying colors. Just rate yourself on a percentage. I have to tell you though, I have never seen one person pass this test. Yes this is a ten commandment based test(and with the teachings of Jesus). The ones that have more than one part, according to the Bible you will be guilty of the first if you do any of them. So basically, they are the same thing in God's eyes. If you have done either in the ones with two question you missed the question.

Tell you what: I'll do your test once you demonstrate to my satisfaction that the Ten Commandments are a valid standard of goodness, and that if a person is good, he will meet all of them.

BTW - something just jumped out at me in your list:

Originally Posted by Christian Soldier

4. Have you ever worked on Sunday?

What on Earth would make you think that the the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments is on Sunday?

**Kiefer** · 06-16-2009, 05:46 PM

This "quiz" is not about how good someone is but about how Christian they are. Many of those things I have done, but I still consider myself a good person. I'd lock this thread if I could...

**Blondin** · 06-16-2009, 06:02 PM

I wouldn't want to see this thread locked. I think this discussion could be quite instructive. The fact that CS would even post something like this, after all that has been discussed before, says something about his naivety (if not his IQ). Also, I think there are a lot of non-believers who don't understand how incredibly, over-the-top holier-than-thou CS and his ilk can be.

I would like to see him defend his position though I admit the likelihood of that is quite slim. I expect he's more likely to just drop this line and disappear for a while to consult the Encyclopedia of Pathetic Strategies for God Wallopers for a new tactic (like he usually does).

**Christianrockdrummer** · 06-16-2009, 07:45 PM

All the objections I've ever seen to religion have been based on factual claims or on the assertion that religion (either a specific denomination or some depiction of God/god/gods) is not good. I've never seen any atheist say that they don't like religion because if they accepted it they'd have to admit that they aren't good. In fact, just about every atheist I've ever encountered will admit that they have their faults.

Christianrockdrummer: Well, not down your statement, but I hear alot of atheists say they don't want to admit there's a God,because they're afraid they'd be judged on their faults. Honestly, that's wahat I hear.

Tell you what: I'll do your test once you demonstrate to my satisfaction that the Ten Commandments are a valid standard of goodness, and that if a person is good, he will meet all of them.

Christianrockdrummer: I know I tried to convince you in the past, but I have some new material, would you allow me to prove the infallability of the Bible again?

**Blondin** · 06-16-2009, 08:00 PM

Christianrockdrummer,

Start a new thread and use punctuation and paragraphs as best you can and I, for one, am willing to read what you have.

I'll warn you though, if you're going to make statements like this:

Well, not down your statement, but I hear alot of atheists say they don't want to admit there's a God,because they're afraid they'd be judged on their faults. Honestly, that's wahat I hear.

without citing references or providing links you are not going to have much credibility.

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