Will God accept you if you renounce religion?

Again, why is rape wrong? The man committing the rape might find it good. How can you then say he is wrong, for there is no objective moral standard by which you could judge him.

Are you honestly suggesting that the only reason you can come up with for rape being wrong is because God says so? God help women if you ever lose your faith...
 
Another issue I think here is the notions of one's morality and one's actions sound like they are being conflated (In jason2 and Ringo747's questions). It is possible to agree that something is immoral whilst still carrying out the action anyway (thus making an objective morality, if it existed, even more inconsequential).

For example lots of people have affairs, but I'd bet very few of them would argue what they did was 'moral'.

The point is, not all of our actions are guided by our morality in any case.
 
Jason2, I had a Revelation last night that I must pass to you urgently. God has a very important task for you, the details of which shall be made clear to you in the few days. Pray and the task will become clear.
 
Let's see where we got to...

As a social species we tend to decide these things as a group. However even in your worldview people pretty much still decide for themselves if they commit an act or not.

Correct, people deciding what acts to commit has no bearing on whether a moral code exists or not.

No because the harm done in obliterating Christians far outweighs the harm that comes from their beliefs.

This is where I see the biggest problem with moral relativism. Who says harm is wrong? Is harm really wrong?

That doesn't answer the question. It is somewhat self referential, an immoral act is immoral because it is immoral? Is homosexuality moral or not using your system?

No I believe that there is an objective standard. How we determine it is a different question.

I do indeed believe that homosexuality is immoral, not because a religious text says so but rather that there are physical, social and biological reasons why it isn't good.

Obviously I, and many others, do.

It seems to me that you can't really say what is evil/good though. After all with relativism you don't have an unchanging standard to measure against.

On another note, do you think that you can become a more moral person over time?
 
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Correct, people deciding what acts to commit has no bearing on whether a moral code exists or not.

So no different so far in practice from subjective morality.

This is where I see the biggest problem with moral relativism. Who says harm is wrong? Is harm really wrong?

The link a few posts above regarding the Veil of Ignorance would be a good place to start. And yes, I would say that harm is really wrong, it makes the world a less happy place. Can you advance a reason as to why harm isn't wrong?

No I believe that there is an objective standard. How we determine it is a different question.

I do indeed believe that homosexuality is immoral, not because a religious text says so but rather that there are physical, social and biological reasons why it isn't good.

So your objection to homosexuality is actually a subjective one rather than an objective one? You have no actual idea if homosexuality is objectively wrong? So how does your method of working out morality vary in the slightest to subjective morality?

As an aside I struggle to see what the physical, social and biological reasons for homosexuality being immoral are.

It seems to me that you can't really say what is evil/good though. After all with relativism you don't have an unchanging standard to measure against.

But then neither can you, you can only subjectively say what you think God considers objective morality. In practice there seems to be very little difference between a subjective moral position and your objective moral position. You don't actually know what is immoral you have to subjectively work it out, you can choose to ignore if you wish and you seem to be unable to describe why subjectively deciding on a basis of harm doesn't work.

I am also not sure that being able to change is necessarily a bad thing. With an unchanging morality you cannot act on new information.

On another note, do you think that you can become a more moral person over time?

Yes, people can and do change, if they decide to change to act in a more moral way (regardless of how they determine morality) then they become can become more moral.

If atheism were true, what would make harm/suffering objectively bad? Conscious creatures might not like harm, but there’s no reason on atheism to think that it would really be objectively bad.

Why wouldn't it be objectively bad? I do not want harm inflicted upon me as it hurts either physically or emotionally.
 
And yes, I would say that harm is really wrong, it makes the world a less happy place. Can you advance a reason as to why harm isn't wrong?

Well, we are making progress! I agree that harm is really wrong too.

You unfortunately can't say the same without admitting that objective morality does exist.

So your objection to homosexuality is actually a subjective one rather than an objective one? You have no actual idea if homosexuality is objectively wrong? So how does your method of working out morality vary in the slightest to subjective morality?

As an aside I struggle to see what the physical, social and biological reasons for homosexuality being immoral are.

No, it is wrong regardless of the scenario.

But then neither can you, you can only subjectively say what you think God considers objective morality. In practice there seems to be very little difference between a subjective moral position and your objective moral position. You don't actually know what is immoral you have to subjectively work it out, you can choose to ignore if you wish and you seem to be unable to describe why subjectively deciding on a basis of harm doesn't work.

Again, this isn't related to whether objective right and wrong exists.


Yes, people can and do change, if they decide to change to act in a more moral way (regardless of how they determine morality) then they become can become more moral.

You can't become more moral with moral relativism! How can you measure morality without a standard? That makes no sense at all.

Why wouldn't it be objectively bad? I do not want harm inflicted upon me as it hurts either physically or emotionally.

Well, I am astounded. I really am.

You and others have been claiming over the past few pages that there is no such thing as objectively morality and now you are implying there is without even realising. Amazing.
 
Well, we are making progress! I agree that harm is really wrong too.

You unfortunately can't say the same without admitting that objective morality does exist.

Why not?

No, it is wrong regardless of the scenario.

And how do you know this? If you are judging it by the social, physical and biological reasons then surely that is subjective? What makes you say it is objectively wrong?

Again, this isn't related to whether objective right and wrong exists.

It is very much related to the existence of an objective morality. If your objective morality is unknowable then for all intents and purposes it doesn't exist and all your morality is subjective.


You can't become more moral with moral relativism! How can you measure morality without a standard? That makes no sense at all.

Yes you can. As you have already pointed out even with an objective moral standard you can fail to live up to it, the same could be said about a subjective moral standard. So on both cases you can improve your actions to become more moral.

Well, I am astounded. I really am.

You and others have been claiming over the past few pages that there is no such thing as objectively morality and now you are implying there is without even realising. Amazing.

No I haven't. You seem to be very much selectively reading things. I believe (and have stated several times) that it is possible to have an objective morality based on harm done but you reject that as subjective. In truth I am agnostic to the idea of an objective morality, even if it does exist you seem to be unable to quantify it which makes it irrelevant.

I think the problem is that you are too tightly married to your belief that God is the only source of objective morality that you are unable to objectively consider anything else.
 
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A post on Richard Dawkin's Facebook page
 
Because it says, 'God says', instead of 'the Bible says'? It's only a list of Bible citations, almost all of which are accurate, as I have just checked (I have a couple more to do).
 
Because it says, 'God says', instead of 'the Bible says'? It's only a list of Bible citations, almost all of which are accurate, as I have just checked (I have a couple more to do).

No, because they are simply biblical quotation, or paraphrases of them, it takes no account of the critical interpretation or translation of the texts themselves, how they relate both contextually, historically and grammatically. For a very simple and common example, the penultimate reference to Matthew 10:34 is not necessarily referring to physical violence, (in fact according to one school of Hermeneutics there is a mis-translation as evidenced in The Book of Kells that suggests it is not mentioning violence at all) but to division of ideology and is in fact referencing conflict of belief and the challenges the disciples faced rather than advocating physical violence.

Easy to quote a bible passage, a little more challenging to interpret it correctly and rationally however, as I am sure you appreciate, if not now, then in time.
 
Or perhaps trying to read more into the passages in the bible is the mistake.

What if the text was written at face value and means exactly what is written, and doesn't have some alternative abstract meanings?
 
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