What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Randy Carson]

If you mentally address a woman and imagine yourself having sex with her, you have committed the sin of adultery in your head just as much as the man who physically does it. Is this so difficult to understand?

Sorry, but as a moral standard I think that, that is bankrupt.  I judge people by their actions not their thoughts.  Those who are tempted but do not act are to be congratulated.  That is how we want them to behave.

This is simply wrong, Jenny.

We're not speaking of temptation here. Temptation is the opportunity to sin, and temptations are everywhere.

For example, for men who are more visually oriented than women when it comes to the opposite sex, pretty girls are everywhere; thus, temptation is everywhere. But we don't have to give into the temptation by acting on that opportunity.

What Jesus spoke of was NOT temptation but embracing the temptation and committing the sin mentally. The man who sees a naked woman and thinks, "Wow, she's cute" has NOT had sex with her in his mind. The man who sees the same woman (or one who is fully clothed) and starts to imagine "doing" her has committed a sin even though it was not committed physically.

If one man walks into a church and opens fire on a group of people having a prayer meeting, how is he more guilty of hatred than the man who imagines himself doing the same thing but cannot get up the courage to actually pull the trigger?

It's not the hatred so much as the shooting that I object too.  Seriously.  Both men may hate equally, but one of them is much more dangerous.

Well, sure. An angry, hate-filled man with a gun IS more dangerous. But they are BOTH angry, hate-filled men. Jesus would object to the hatred of both equally.

God judges the heart because He knows the inner thoughts.

You do realize you are talking to people who do not believe in your god?

Of course. But would you agree that IF God exists, then He would know the inner thoughts of man? And if God judges according to a higher standard, then not only the actions of men but the thoughts of men must be considered by God?

So, it is consistent to believe that IF a holy and righteous God exists, then He calls us to a higher standard than we might otherwise aspire to if left to our own devices.