I see a few questions on here regarding having "objective" meaning/morals/etc on here, and it seems apparent that the people asking these questions feel that having such a thing is important to them.
My question is simply: Why does it matter to some people?
There's plenty more I could say in regards to why I don't feel this is important to me, but I'm aiming more to get the other side, not argue
?
Favorite Answer
I'm an atheist and it's never mattered to me that much; however, I see it as a point of reason that there *is* objective morality. If, for example, a person kills for his own sadistic pleasure; there is no way to justify that in any culture. The human experience is certainly subjective, but if we're sticking within the confines of that experience, than anything that hurts our species is objectively bad. Our banking system and agricultural industry each have components that are objectively bad for humanity.
I suppose that there are objective rights and objective wrongs, however, most people think of broad concepts such as murder or greed. In broad subjects, you're bound to find loopholes or legitimate excuses for otherwise despicable behavior but when these fields are sufficiently narrowed, you can find the objectivity.
Anonymous
I'm not sure how others feel, but I am to provide a biblical answer. For a bible believing Christian, such as myself, what God says is important, is what is important. He and He alone is the foundation for what you or I would label as 'important' in this life. God in His word explains who He is, who we are, and what that means. Morality according to the bible, consists of more than just the relationship between two people. There is also the morality of a man or woman in and of themselves, and the morality of man or woman in their relationship with the Creator. A Christian's morals are the thoughts of God, not public opinion of the day. Sin describes an act that is in violation to the character of a holy God. It is not merely something the majority agree is wrong. God's character doesn't change, thus what was wrong years ago is not ok now that enough people agree. Sin hinders the relationship between a Christian and the Lord, because of the divine nature of almighty God that a new believer receives on the day of salvation. Think of a loving Grandmother whose Grandson decides to watch pornography in the living room as if it's no big deal. No love is lost, but relationship has now suffered, and must be dealt with. Until the Grandson admits his actions were wrong, the relationship is going to affected in a negative way. Now substitute the Grandmother for a holy God, and the enmity that brought into the relationship should be apparent. Whether or not a person believes any of this, is a different explanation all together, but this is the Christian viewpoint, which I'm happy to discuss further should you decide to contact me.
Nous
Research shows that the reason humans struggle with emotion to find equitable solutions is pinpointed the region of the brain called the insular cortex, or insula, which is also the seat of emotional reactions.
The fact that the brain has such a robust response to unfairness shows that sensing unfairness is a basic evolved capacity.
The emotional response to unfairness pushes people from extreme inequity and drives them to be fair. This observation shows our basic impulse to be fair isn't a complicated thing that we learn.
It therefore fully illustrates that all humans have morals controlled by the brain and that Christians are entirely wrong to try and claim morals as their own!!!!
But Christians found a way round it!
Government statistics show that Christians are vastly over represented in prisons for sexual, violent and fraudulent crime whilst year on year government figures show atheists make up only 2% of the prison population!
The Catholic Church is paying millions in compensation for the sex/paedophile crimes of their priests alone!
Christians are vastly over represented in the divorce courts!
Christians invented the concept of sin and then the idea that you could sin, ask forgiveness, get pardoned and start with a clean sheet!
So no surprise that they are so expert at it is it‽
A Christian is a man that feels repentance on Sunday for what he did on Saturday and is going to do on Monday. - Thomas Russell Ybarra
Anonymous
Christians lack superiority in regards to atheists in a multitude of ways; they're not mentally, physically, or emotionally superior to us, and they acknowledge this begrudgingly, so they grasp at straws for some way to be "better" than us, and they think that having a moral system they didn't have to consider deeply is a "good" thing.
The truth is, objective morals don't exist, unless they want to suggest that their God giving people free will isn't a gift, and was instead a mistake - otherwise, they have to accept that we possess the ability to make sound moral judgments separate from their God.
Anonymous
The bible isn't a source of objective morality. At least not in the direct sense. Rather, the bible records the objective morality inherent in Abrahamic theism. God is the source of objective morality. The bible just bears witness to God's self-disclosure. Part of that revelation is the covenant between Yahweh and Israel delivered at Sinai (the Law). But the bible isn't a discourse on moral philosophy. It is a religious text produced by and for a community of faith.