I think this is correct. However, it is still healthy to own up to what you did as bad, or wrong, or immoral, or whatever fancy word you currently hold for not good and say sorry. We all mess up and unless it is a complete accident we must recognize ourself in error.

Christians are lucky to have a nice, neat little list of what is bad. To some people it isn’t automatic knowledge that sleeping around is unwise, or even that not cooking your food before eating it is unwise (the Jews had holy writ to tell them not to eat meat with blood or fat in it–which ended up saving some of them from heart disease no doubt).

We all make our lists of bad and good things, or wise and unwise things. Atheists are the same as Christians on that front. Both sides concentrate on the goodness of man (there are many humanistic Christians, ever since the enlightenment–and many humanistic Jews as well–I’d say the whole deprivation thing was Augustine’s fault). But by what standard does an atheist define the list of right and wrong actions? Simply by the consequences of the actions? As our knowledge increases it becomes easier to see all the consequences and to make a list of unwise and wise actions–but these ancient religions still offer amazing clarity in the realm of morality. And our scientific/psychological knowledge is still limited.

Everyone admits that people aren’t perfect–might as well have a balanced focus between our “incredible potential” and our often mistake-ridden reality.