# The Department of Faith is re-instated **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 8, 2025, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043 "2025-02-08T06:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/21 "2025-03-13T11:49:58Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > If it is fear that drives anyone to be a good person, they have proved that they are not and can’t be a good person. Right. But not everybody _is_ a good person. If someone like a psychopath, who isn’t motivated by concern for others, wanting to be a good person, etc., can be kept from doing bad things through fear (whether of divine or human consequences), isn’t that better than if there’s _nothing_ stopping them from doing bad things? ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/22 "2025-03-13T11:53:41Z")
Someone sent me this today. I thought you folks would like it [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SZ2L-R8NgrA/hqdefault.jpg "GOP Jesus") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ2L-R8NgrA) ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/23 "2025-03-13T11:54:10Z")
_“Religion - religion, at best - at BEST - is like a lift in your shoe. If you need it for a while, and it makes you walk straight and feel better - fine. But you don’t need it forever, or you can become permanently disabled. Religion is like a lift in the shoe, and I say just don’t ask me to wear your shoes. And let’s not go down and nail lifts onto the natives’ feet.”_ –George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/24 "2025-03-13T21:06:09Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > If it is fear that drives anyone to be a good person, they have proved that they are not and can’t be a good person. And I’m not even sure this is true. Maybe fear could give someone the initial push toward becoming a good person. It worked that way for [Eleanor Shellstrop](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4955642/characters/nm0068338/?ref_=tt_cst_c_1)? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/25 "2025-03-13T21:14:18Z")
I don’t believe that fear will ever make someone be a good person, but it might keep a person (whether good or bad) from doing bad things. It’s basic common sense; people will factor in consequences when making decisions, and fear can even cause someone to _instinctually_ avoid certain behaviors. But I think that’s a philosophical topic that goes way beyond just religion. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/26 "2025-03-15T03:08:27Z")
I think the word fear is being misapplied here. It isn’t standing there in the face of God and peeing in my pants out of straight-up horror, its rather a reverential awe and respect. As far as not needing the teachings of a religion to guide you, I mostly agree. I was taught to forgive any transgression and not to respond to it with violence. That is incredibly hard to do, depending on the transgression. But I remember the teachings from the Sermon on the Mount to remind me. So while Catholicism may not have worth in some people’s lives, it does in mine. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/27 "2025-03-15T07:34:53Z")
Ah, yet another great introduction of Christianity into our federal governmnt by one of the most Christian presidents we’ve ever had. [I wonder why he didn’t get his good ol’ pal Robert Morris for the missionary position this time.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-megachurch-founder-robert-morris-indicted-charges-lewd-acts-chil-rcna161100) (The link goes to _NBC News_.) It occurs to me you already know what it says before clicking on it, but what the hey, here’s a little piece for you. > [@](#): > > Robert Morris, 63, who founded Gateway Church in Southlake, is charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the attorney general’s office [said in a statement](https://oklahoma.gov/oag/news/newsroom/2025/march/multi-county-grand-jury-indicts-texas-megachurch-founder-on-multiple-counts-of-lewd-or-indecent-acts-with-child.html). > > The abuse began in December 1982 when Morris was visiting the Hominy, Oklahoma, [home of the v](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-adviser-pastor-robert-morris-confesses-sexual-behavior-rcna157474)[ictim](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-adviser-pastor-robert-morris-confesses-sexual-behavior-rcna157474), the attorney general’s office alleged. He was 21 and she was 12 at the time. > > It continued for four years, the office said. and > [@](#): > > Morris was a member of President Donald Trump’s spiritual advisory committee during his first term. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/28 "2025-03-22T07:09:08Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > _Lest Darkness Fall_ ~ L. Sprague de Camp Is this book available anywhere in ebook or audible format? I’ve been looking for years without success and I read my paperback copy to tatters many years ago. A couple of years ago I did find a Spanish translation on Everand, but I can’t read Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/29 "2025-03-22T07:43:35Z")
I found a Kindle version on Amazon Prime. [Amazon.com: Lest Darkness Fall & Timeless Tales Written in Tribute eBook : de Camp, L Sprague, Pohl, Frederik, Drake, David, Stirling, S. M., Weber, David, Turtledove, Harry, Panshin, Alexei, Panshin, Cory: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Timeless-Tales-Written-Tribute-ebook/dp/B08TM88YY6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=OQ2WG4JIRFLO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.fV1xTrMEZk5xflWW9vzFWauNgVKZR-5s7HnxL0B5hzx9KyK4wuHWswS7AD-1iJB2ToktxAC-UbBMsrixyGSKsG6GlFFpxwDUKbOrJt2UAnVZWK0NdH22dDfdo1Yu7XWiqqedsrv7g9U8AlFjWATRXwoNOFx6PuhRNhuor7ntTnA4j325xi2EEMdXQY8D2P1CPdG3YlOOHsQK08k-xreDnA.bOvnGz9wJlhIXBrcZF_VzvzeFIEYyZM5aQfiaPKyHWw&dib_tag=se&keywords=lest+darkness+fall&qid=1742629258&sprefix=lest+darkness%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/30 "2025-03-22T17:59:39Z")
Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/31 "2025-03-23T02:26:18Z")
I got it on Apple iBooks as part of a collection for a few dolars. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043/32 "2025-03-23T13:16:10Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It’s what the apocalypters like about him, especially when he talks about kicking everyone except the Jews out of Israel. > > Stranger I’m trying to find the actual article link instead of the ‘banner’ but there are unconfirmed reports that he is sanitizing / has sanitized all mentions on the web site of The Holocaust. ( If true, why are people sitting still for this? ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-department-of-faith-is-re-instated/1014043.md?page=1)