Christian morality: an atheist's point of view (abortion, gospel, belief)
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Vizio, please let's not play cute, because, you ain't.
The qualifier is:
If it harms you or someone else, don't.
Why?
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Of course, the person whose system of morality is anti-social, has never been stopped by silly things like rules, or commandments, has he.
Does that make him right? Of course not, nor does it make him moral.
Why?
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If it harms you or someone else, don't.
And you continue doing it, then you are not moral.
See, it works. Every time.
Why should we accept your system of morality? Again...you are making all sorts of statements about what is and what isn't moral...but you have yet to explain WHY it is so. You're begging the question. That means you are assuming the point when you have yet to prove it.
No doubt you're going to grow tired of my questioning you because you have no answer. At that point you'll likely declare yourself the victor and tell me I'm stupid. In the future when this comes up again you'll self-righteously tell me I'm too dumb to know that all of this was explained before.
Ok....now why? Suppose someone has a system of morality that says that hurting people is GOOD?
Who is correct? And why?
That person's morality would be wrong.
So, now you ask why?
It certainly isn't because of objective morality. Instead, it is a variation of utilitarianism. We want to maximize pleasure/happiness/contentment, while minimizing pain/sadness/harm. The 'why' is self evident. Maximizing harm is detrimental to all of us. If my view is to maximize harm, then you (or somebody) is going to suffer as a result. Similarly, I am likely to suffer at someone else's hand.
We all want to avoid harm, if only for selfish reasons. Because we are social beings and tend to have empathy, we generally extend that benevolence, or at least indifference, to others.
You can certainly cite examples of Hannibal Lector style sociopaths who do not feel empathy, nor do they care about harm. That doesn't invalidate the utilitarian theory of morality, it simply says that individual is an outlier, who for the safety and benefit of the rest of the population, needs to be restricted from harming others.
This secular morality doesn't need any more 'why' than this. We feel the morality because of self interest and empathy. Done. There is no more, nor does there need to be any more.
It is also a superior code of morality than most if not all religious codes.
It certainly isn't because of objective morality. Instead, it is a variation of utilitarianism. We want to maximize pleasure/happiness/contentment, while minimizing pain/sadness/harm. The 'why' is self evident. Maximizing harm is detrimental to all of us. If my view is to maximize harm, then you (or somebody) is going to suffer as a result. Similarly, I am likely to suffer at someone else's hand.
We all want to avoid harm, if only for selfish reasons. Because we are social beings and tend to have empathy, we generally extend that benevolence, or at least indifference, to others.
Why?
Quote:
You can certainly cite examples of Hannibal Lector style sociopaths who do not feel empathy, nor do they care about harm. That doesn't invalidate the utilitarian theory of morality, it simply says that individual is an outlier, who for the safety and benefit of the rest of the population, needs to be restricted from harming others.
This secular morality doesn't need any more 'why' than this. We feel the morality because of self interest and empathy. Done. There is no more, nor does there need to be any more.
It is also a superior code of morality than most if not all religious codes.
All you're giving me is what you think. You're making statements as if it's fact. But you've given me no actual argument other than to beg the question.
What it comes down to is personal preference. You prefer your system over anything else.
Don't be silly. Do you want me to come over to your house and beat you up? Of course not. That is why. Nothing more than you don't want me, or anybody else, to hurt you.
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All you're giving me is what you think. You're making statements as if it's fact. But you've given me no actual argument other than to beg the question.
What it comes down to is personal preference. You prefer your system over anything else.
No, I am giving you a basis for morality. I don't want to be harmed, you don't want to be harmed. Nobody wants to be harmed. Yes, that is a personal preference, but that is good enough to be the foundation for a system of morality.
I prefer this system because it has a foundation in something tangible, and can be used to guide behaviour and judge right and wrong.
The same cannot be said for a god's arbitrary system of 'because I said so'.
Don't be silly. Do you want me to come over to your house and beat you up? Of course not. That is why. Nothing more than you don't want me, or anybody else, to hurt you.
Some people feel it's good to be able to go beat other people up. If we're going to look at it from a purely evolutionary point of view, the fittest would survive -- so that would be a good thing.
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No, I am giving you a basis for morality. I don't want to be harmed, you don't want to be harmed. Nobody wants to be harmed. Yes, that is a personal preference, but that is good enough to be the foundation for a system of morality.
I prefer this system because it has a foundation in something tangible, and can be used to guide behaviour and judge right and wrong.
The same cannot be said for a god's arbitrary system of 'because I said so'.
OK...so you think your system is best. Great. Now explain why it is anything more than your opinion.
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