Here’s a bit of a take-off (thanks Carol).This article refers to an ongoing discussion of a very old topic — the moral compass of Atheists. Some of our critics choose to think that since we have no bible, we can have no objective source for our morality.They’re right. We Don’t.Our detractors’ flaw is in their premise — they don’t have one either. They have their own ideas, find it in the Bible, and then SAY that their ideas are absolute and objective, when in fact they are just personal opinion.For example, Many of our Christian and Jewish friends look at the first part of Lev 20:13 (“If a man lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination”) as an objective judgement against homosexual behavior. They choose to ignore the second part of the SAME SENTENCE (“they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them”). Because they find that PART of the sentence immoral, they find a way to ignore it, don’t talk about it, and don’t teach it to their kids, making that PART of the sentence somehow not-objective-truth, even though they are words of God himself, and in the same sentence as the words they hold dear. One part of the sentence is morality — the next part is not.Another example is how slavery was/is viewed. The very phrases in Exodus that the slave traders used to justify their wretched industry merely 200 years ago (Ex 20-21) are now dismissed by nearly everyone of conscience as “a sign of the different times”. Same phrase, different meaning, giving far different moral views.See where I’m going? They CHOOSE their own morality just as we all do. The only difference is that they support/blame their decision on the Bible, and we must be responsible for our own opinions. Their trap is sprung when we forget this fact — when we try to point out our objective source for morality, which does not exist. We fail, and their point is made. This universe is not made up of blacks and whites — rather shades of gray. Objective moral laws are myths — like the gods who make them.
The Moral Compass
“This universe is not made up of blacks and whites – rather shades of gray. Objective moral laws are myths – like the gods who make them.”
Have a look at this entry on the No God Blog.
…