Well I can at least understand that but I'm not sure I agree with it. Why you do something can matter even if the results are the same.
For example, a man walks in to find a second man beating a dog with a golf club, quickly he goes up to him, pushes the man back and takes the club while shouting, "Stop that!" We might say, he's a good man. But if we then find out that he only stopped the second man because beating the dog was getting blood on his carpet do we still think he was a good man doing good? Sure he stopped the second man beating the dog but not for the right reasons and he wouldn't have done it if the situation had been slightly different.
Some people are motivated to do good because of Christianity (and other religions) but the reasons aren't always good and often they will do bad because of those reasons, see the anti-abortion movement as one example. I'm not saying people should stop doing good things but they should do them for a good reason and religion is not a good reason.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Well I can at least understand that but I'm not sure I agree with it. Why you do something can matter even if the results are the same.
For example, a man walks in to find a second man beating a dog with a golf club, quickly he goes up to him, pushes the man back and takes the club while shouting, "Stop that!" We might say, he's a good man. But if we then find out that he only stopped the second man because beating the dog was getting blood on his carpet do we still think he was a good man doing good? Sure he stopped the second man beating the dog but not for the right reasons and he wouldn't have done it if the situation had been slightly different.
Some people are motivated to do good because of Christianity (and other religions) but the reasons aren't always good and often they will do bad because of those reasons, see the anti-abortion movement as one example. I'm not saying people should stop doing good things but they should do them for a good reason and religion is not a good reason.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~