Does morality come from gods? Of course it doesn't. Have you read the holy books recently? Aside from being utterly repugnant and morally retarded, they're actually quite hilarious. For the sake of my largely Christian readers I'll explore the moral philosophy of the Bible and argue for why it is not a source for morality in any reasonable sense. But first, I want to spend some time talking again about the burden of proof and honest discourse.For centuries one of the pillars of Christian apologetics has been the assertion that without Christianity there would be no source for morality. In other words, we're all brutes who need a cosmic authority to say "Thou shall not murder" in order to know that wanton murder is detrimental to society. More sophisticated theologians will talk about how non-believers are capable of morality, but unable to rationally justify morality with a natural explanation.
Here's the deal. The inability of a non-believer to justify morality doesn't even make the Christian explanation more plausible, let alone true. To claim absolute morality (which the orthodox Christian does) the burden of proof is on the Christian to substantiate their claims. In my many formal and informal debates with Christians there always comes a point when they look at me and ask me to explain morality. When I point out that it is not necessary they believe they have won some sort of philosophical victory.
Well, I happily call bullshit.
It just so happens that I have a naturalistic explanation for morality. I subscribe to an objective (note: not absolute) provisional morality. It's objective because it belongs to the species, not the individual, and it's provisional because morality evolves with our understanding of pain and well being.
This is the first (and briefest) of a three part series on morality. Next I will discuss the moral philosophy of the Bible and argue that it cannot be any viable source for morality. Lastly I will outline a reasonable, naturalistic account of human morality.
For now I hope you will thoughtfully consider the burden of proof.
In reason,
Clint Wells
