Parents often say something similar when their kids complain that all their friends are doing something they're not allowed to do: "Just because they're doing it, doesn't make it right!"
St Augustine (very clever ancient Christian dude) said, "Right is still right even if no-one is doing it. Wrong is still wrong even if everyone is doing it."
Was he right?
Or wrong?
And how do you KNOW?
This video is about that!
Summary
The moral argument for the existence of God can be summarised as follows...
Premise 1: If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.
Premise 2: Objective moral values and duties DO exist.
Conclusion: Therefore God exists.
"God's nature provides an objective reference point for moral values."
"If there's no God, there's no objective reference point. All we are left with is one person's viewpoint, which is no more valid than anyone else's viewpoint."
"Atheism fails to provide a foundation for the moral reality every one of us experiences every day. The existence of morality points us directly to the existence of God."
Questions
1. Richard Dawkins, the famous atheist, (affirming the 1st premise), said that in a world without God, "...there can be no evil and no good... nothing but blind pitiless indifference."
Do you agree? Why, or why not?
2. "Just as our sense experience convinces us that the physical world is objectively real, our moral experience convinces us that moral values are objectively real."
Do you agree? Why, or why not?
And if not, the implication (by definition) is that you're affirming subjective morality (the kind that changes from person-to-person, has no objective basis and is not binding on anyone else). So...
3. Are child abuse, racism and terrorism morally wrong for all people in all places at all times? Or is it down to personal preference or opinion?
If they're absolutely wrong, on what basis are they absolutely wrong?
If they are not, is Dawkins right in question 1 and how is it even possible to live a truly "good" life and not simply the life you personally prefer? And what would you say to the person who prefers to live a selfish, greedy life at the expense of other people and says, "Who are you to tell me I'm wrong?"
4. Can you be good without God? Why/why not?
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