16 Problems with Divine Command Theory

13) Moral development of children

In Morality Without God, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong states ((p. 110):

…anyone who helps and refrains from harming others just because God commanded her to do so might not be hard-hearted, but her motivations are far from ideal. It would be better for them to help nd refrin from harming other people out of concern for those other people.

That is what we ought to teach our children. Studies of development and education show that children develop better moral attitudes as adults if they are raised to empathize rather than to obey commands without any reasons rather than to avoid punishment. To raise children to obey God’s commands just because God commanded them will undermine true caring and true morality.

He cites Martin L. Hoffman’s Empathy and Moral Development: Implications for Caring and Justice for further reading on this.