Morals---Maybe I don't understand.....or maybe I do

[Tina]

I'm sure there have been posts about this subject before, but I wasn't sure where to find them and I really want to talk about this. It's been on my mind for a few days now.
Morals-- Here is the definition according to dictionary.com--


mor·al
   [mawr-uhl, mor-] Show IPA

adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.

2.
expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work; moralizing: a moral novel.

3.
founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom: moral obligations.

4.
capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct: a moral being.

5.
conforming to the rules of right conduct ( opposed to immoral): a moral man.


So morals are conforming to the right conduct. Who is to say what sort of conduct is right or wrong? Well, as a Christian, GOD clarifies on what is right and wrong. As an athiest? Who decides then? The athiest?
So as an athiest, morals don't really exist. Because he/she would decide for himself/herself on what is right and wrong, based on what they feel would protect themselves and things they care about. So if everyone was an athiest, morals would differ from person to person. A person could decide that killing thousands of people would be morally right, and no one could tell them they are wrong, because that person decided that was right conduct. Furthermore, if GOD didn't exist and all we had to live for was science, then morals would not be necessary. Someone could murder millions of people in an overpopulated area, experiment on humans, or wipe out half the human race, and claim it morally right for the betterment of science. Maybe someone decides it would be better if humans did not exist. So then they kill everyone. And then there is nothing. What would our purpose be? As an athiest, maybe the world would be better without us. So why even try? Why even love? Why do anything? If all we are is science, then why not let someone rape your child to see how he/she reacts, since science involves observation and experimentation. Why not let someone cut off your child's limbs to see if they can live with out them, or to see how long it takes them to bleed to death? Afterall, it's science. And everyone decides their own morals. And there's nothing else to it.

I think I'll stick with GOD. GOD is love. And we couldn't live without HIM.
I once read something that said this--"I would rather believe in GOD and find out HE isn't there, than to not, and find out HE is."
Because afterall, if HE isn't there, then our whole existence really doesn't matter anyways.

[PaulSacramento]

Without an "absolute moral" as the "yard stick" then all morals are subjective to culture and even to "personal whim".

[1stjohn0666]

Values are "conditioned" in a person from infancy and as we grow our values are what determine our morals. An Atheist has morals, maybe as not described in the bible. I am certain that for the most part they are in fact morally right as the bible would teach us.

[PaulSacramento]

Values are "conditioned" in a person from infancy and as we grow our values are what determine our morals. An Atheist has morals, maybe as not described in the bible. I am certain that for the most part they are in fact morally right as the bible would teach us.

Sure and where do those morals come from?

[1stjohn0666]

They are learned by the values that were taught by our parents usually.

[RickD]

They are learned by the values that were taught by our parents usually.

Ultimately, where do the come from?

[PaulSacramento]

One of the most honest atheists I know said this to me:
We took our morals from the judeo-christian foundation of western civilization.
We discard what we no longer need, namely the notion of god, and keep what we deem to be correct based on the moral foundation of the society we live in.

[RickD]

One of the most honest atheists I know said this to me:
We took our morals from the judeo-christian foundation of western civilization.
We discard what we no longer need, namely the notion of god, and keep what we deem to be correct based on the moral foundation of the society we live in.

2 Timothy 3:5 comes to mind: holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Seems your atheist friend holds to God's absolute morals, but denies who's behind the morals.

[1stjohn0666]

The people that teach us from childhood. Now if you want me to say to the Atheist that morals come from God, I could but I won't.

[RickD]

The people that teach us from childhood. Now if you want me to say to the Atheist that morals come from God, I could but I won't.

John, morality doesn't come from those who teach us. That would be like saying mathematical concepts come from our math teachers.

[1stjohn0666]

I did not say that, I said what we learn as our values, dictate what our morals will be.

[RickD]

I did not say that, I said what we learn as our values, dictate what our morals will be.

PaulSacramento asked where the morals come from.
And you answered:

They are learned by the values that were taught by our parents usually.

Maybe you misunderstood the question.

Where does morality come from?

[1stjohn0666]

I am in answer for the Atheist, so I leave "God" out of the equation.