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{"id":8740,"date":"2010-09-30T00:05:14","date_gmt":"2010-09-30T05:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=8740"},"modified":"2010-09-28T09:11:33","modified_gmt":"2010-09-28T14:11:33","slug":"human-worth-morality-atheism-vs-theism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/30\/human-worth-morality-atheism-vs-theism\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Worth, Morality: Atheism vs. Theism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Peter Singer, an atheist, responds in A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life\u2019s Hardest Questions<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Big questions: Is there any justification for morality if there is no God? What justification can be offered? Is that justification true or just workable\/practicable? Is it just utilitarian?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, he appeals to the Euthyphro argument: something is right only because God will is (or bad because God doesn\u2019t will it). Or, the \u201cgood\u201d is independent of God. [It seems something is missed here: classic Christian ethical theory anchors what is good not so much in the will of God as in the nature of God, and this makes \u201cgood\u201d not independent but inherent to who God is.]<\/p>\n

Second, knowing right and wrong isn\u2019t that easy. Christians are notoriously inconsistent in what they say they know to be right and good and how they live \u2014 do the followers of Jesus live out his teachings on poverty and wealth? And they focus on things not in the Gospels. His points is that we don\u2019t need religion to determine what is good: Christians have a Bible but seem to be constructing morals on their own basis.<\/p>\n

Third, Christians claim morals are linked to motivation in order to get into heaven. But he finds examples of moral behavior in folks who are not religious, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. There is no strong correlation between being religious and being moral. [He\u2019s spitting into the wind on this one; it\u2019s a spectrum.]<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t find his argument at all compelling and it is at times the repetition of old canards and dog-eared simplicities.<\/p>\n

So he gives an evolutionary theory of morality. We are, Singer claims, social mammals. Observations shows mammals caring for kin and offspring; we find some sense of fairness in other mammals. So our morality evolved, which doesn\u2019t make it right, as he admits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And we are reasonable mammals: there are survival advantages in being able to reason; we can see our place in the universe etc. This permits us to perceive the Golden Rule, a form of utilitarianism.<\/p>\n

So his atheist morality is the Golden Rule: the rule of empathy. Put yourselves in the shoes of others in order to determine what is good.<\/p>\n

John Hare responds to Singer, and Singer\u2019s response to Hare \u00a0is that there are no grounds for morality; living a moral life \u2014 of the Golden Rule \u2014 brings a greater sense of harmony in this world.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"