Thanks for taking the time to provide the detailed response, Inspector.

Again, I am not questioning your belief set, and my sincere apologies if my previous comment was seen as an attempt to marginalize or over-simplify your beliefs.

dubya

No apology necessary. I did not take it that way. Sorry I came across like you were attempting to marginalize my beliefs. I sometimes post way too much in order to be clear and concise. And in doing so my point gets lost. I think this was one of those times. 

Looks like a great discussion going on.   Great respect for everyone's views. 

  Do you think responsible, righteous behavior is learned or subconscious?

All I can say is that conviction goes a long way.Some people have a hard time dealing with negative influences/situations. Human nature as a whole is sinful, that is not an easy thing to overcome. Is this where the need for a higher power comes in? Could be....

Being moved by the spirit is a hard thing to describe. Believing in something you can't touch, or physically see? Faith is believing in things not seen.

I was born and raised in a Christian home.  Ive always been compassionate towards others and like to give a helping hand. My parents  taught me to do my best,work hard, and be at least 15 minutes early to everything. Most life lessons came at an early age. Life is a journey and we all take different paths, sometimes they cross.

We can only strive for perfection. Like a marriage, it takes work and commitment. Learned or subconscious? Mixed feelings about that. A child learns that hitting is wrong....They feel bad the first time a lie is told. Over all I have to go back to conviction.

I was going with the train of thought that no matter what the religious or non-religious conviction of a person, IMO the values are what matters, and that the upbringing of an individual is what shapes a person's idea of what is right and wrong. 

I too grew up in the Christian faith, I am not devoutly religious, But I do believe in God and Jesus Christ is our saviour.  However, I also believe that one really needs to have an open mind, and the message of Christ proves that.  I respect and will listen to a persons point of veiw.  Even if I disagree, I am not one to try and force a person to change what they believe.

Saying all that,  I think that in today's culture of liberality, values are lost.  I constantly see kids running their parents, not listening, running wild.  No idea what is right and what is wrong.    Many hard core liberals would say that if one teaches core goodness values on all children, that would be akin to forcing religion on the child.  I disagree with that premis.  I think that the whole point of these values are to help the young mind decipher what is right and wrong, and learn that self control is a nessisary part of being a productive member of society.  Religion is a great explaination of the consequences to bad behaviour,  these consequenses can be quite harsh, this is why it works.  Without consequenses why should a person strive to be righteous?   If the answer is to be a good person, I believe that that person was taught that, not genetically programed to be righteous.

Do you think responsible, righteous behavior is learned or subconscious? 


I think it usually is subconscious, or at least starts that way, then becomes learned, as we try to bend the rules.
 I think it also depends on society and what is accepted as their "norm" in regards to responsible and righteous-ness.