WHAT DOES RELIGION SAY ABOUT BEING MOTIVATED TO SERVE OTHERS SO MUCH THAT YOU SEEK NOTHING IN IT FOR YOURSELF?

We will look at how Jesus thought of the motive to do good, how a judgemental God threatens the integrity of your motives and how the notions of original sin/universal sin imply our real motive is just to sin more than anything else. To be told Jesus is the judge of your motives is to say the motives will not self-judge. It devalues them. To say we have original motivation to sin from our birth is discouraging to positive motivation.

What does Jesus suggest about the motivation to do good?

That a natural disinclination that makes you battle to do good is the best thing. Morality is about wanting to help but not about helping. It is about motive. The Christian believes that Jesus was right to give his life for the world though he could barely stomach the thought of doing it. The New Testament sees this death as the climax of Jesus’ love. If Jesus liked doing it, it would not have been as good. Jesus implied by his teaching on the cross that the more you like something the more displeasing to God it is for it is more self-centred then.

Does the God thing make it worse?

Yes - our motive to do good for other is often a burden but religion adds to the burden by bringing in a God who may not exist and who needs us to be motivated to please him! Making it worse could make people suffer and this is not a sin if it is a genuine weakness. It will happen that while God who alone matters is looked after people will be forgotten.

And does the God thing make it more judgemental than it needs to be?

Yes. It is mad to say that a man who endures great pain and persecution for he cherishes God is good and that a man who hates doing the will of God but chooses to do it regardless is not as good. The two have pain in different ways but it is still pain and to run down one man is to run down the other. To ridicule one person is to ridicule others in the sense that "If you were him I would ridicule you or if you were like him".

What does Christianity mean by love?

Jesus defined it as sacrifice. To good because you want to gratify your own feelings is not as good as doing good because it is the right thing to do. In fact to him it is not good at all but is the sin of putting evil in a good light. Christians run down good done by a person who seeks praise for example. To do good because it is your duty feels cold and boring and we conclude that Christianity means altruism when it speaks of love. Christianity is wrong. Only a person who affirms egoism can dare to say that caring feelings make a person good even if you just have them to feel good. The Christian rejects acting to gratify your own desire to help others.

If it is good to love God then is it true that a bad person will develop a revulsion for God and be jealous of holy people?

Yes. But it is not right to judge anybody over a being who may not exist or care if he does exist.

Does Christianity accuse you of developing that revulsion through something called original sin?

Yes. Catholics believe that Adam and Eve sinned on our behalf in the Garden of Eden and this has put a revulsion towards God’s ways in us which is part of something religion calls original sin so that we are inclined to sin. The Christian faith blames Adam for the revulsion and passing it on to us in hereditary fashion. So, that would be all the more reason for it to say that our bad feelings towards God make us good if we overcome them so we are not bad but marvellously good for it is harder to be good.

When is the revulsion wrong?

Altruism will only see the revulsion as wrong if the person wants it and only wants it to avoid doing altruistic deeds.

Is the revulsion a symptom of sin even if not a sin itself?

Some would think the following: “Sin leads to revulsion for good. It makes one hate doing good. You may repent and do good despite the revulsion and that seems to be a great worthy sacrifice. But though the sacrifice is commendable, it is not worthwhile for it depended on sin and the revulsion for good it created to be a sacrifice to the degree that it is.” The reply is that the revulsion though caused by sin is still there but is now a good thing for the sin is repented and it allows you to do deeply altruistic acts. The revulsion doesn’t depend on sin anymore.

What if we sin anyway for life?

If sins give me a revulsion for good I should let them for I will sin anyway. I should make sure it will be the sins that will result in revulsion that I commit when I do sin so that the possibility of horrible sacrifice for good will exist for the future. So it is better to commit a sin like hypocrisy that makes you hate good than to commit a once-off bank robbery that you will regret emotionally.

Conclusions

Spiritual motivation to do good and be holy is an ordeal! It is very off-putting and thus harmful.