I have posted many atheists’ critical responses to my two posts about atheism and nihilism. Many other comments have gone in the trash bin because they were rabid and not civil.
However, I am dismayed by the fact that few, if any, of my atheist interlocutors have really understood the argument. Most have read things into my posts that simply were not there.
Henceforth I will only post responses that reflect real reading and at least rudimentary grasp of what I wrote and do not rely on ideas READ INTO the post being responded to.
1) My argument (actually Kung’s) is not at all about whether atheists have moral values or behave morally or whether theists are “more moral” than atheists. The argument has to do with metaphysical grounding for belief in objective morality (and meaning).
2) I wrote nothing in my two posts (about atheism) defending the moral behavior of people in the Bible. That’s a red herring to distract attention away from the argument.
3) The issue of WHY people believe in certain moral systems or ethical norms is irrelevant to the argument. The argument is only about WHETHER people have logical warrants for believing in objective right and wrong BEYOND “might makes right.”
So, IF you choose to respond, be sure you are responding to what I actually said and not to things you read “between the lines.”
My challenge to atheists is simply this: Explain what grounds objective (universal, transcultural, unchanging) right and wrong. Explain what grounds absolute meaning (e.g., absolute dignity of human life including certain human rights) beyond culture (which changes) and its social contracts. In other words, to be perfectly blunt, OTHER THAN the fact that Hitler lost, what makes his projects (genocide, world domination at the expense of mass murder and enslavement) absolutely wrong? What if Hitler had won? On what objective basis (having nothing to do with preference or feelings) could you condemn his actions as absolutely wrong?
(This is my blog, so feel free not to come here if you don’t want to respond to the actual issues and questions civilly and in the spirit of dialogue. I will not post comments that are uncivil or misrepresent the actual argument or address other questions than these WITHOUT addressing these first.)
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