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The origin of morality
#1
The origin of morality
To make a long story short, all humans have roughly the same moral system within broad limits. No human society condones gratuitous murder of and theft from members of that society. Gratuitous slaughter of and theft from non-members is not generally condemned from the earliest written records to the slaughter of Iraqis in the second Gulf War.

Note also these same rules of behavior, within the usual broad limits, are found in all social species from ants to elephants. In all species there are exceptions to average behavior which are dealt with by the social group.

Clearly neither the tribes of Borneo nor prides of lions have ever studied Christian morality yet have the same rules of behavior. There is clearly no basis for involving the Christian sky marshal in the matter of morality.
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#2
RE: The origin of morality
It's absurd to say that it comes from Christianity, specifically: it's not the oldest/first religion. To say that it comes from Christianity is to say that everything prior was immoral.
(March 30, 2013 at 9:51 pm)ThatMuslimGuy2 Wrote: Never read anything immoral in the Qur'an.
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#3
RE: The origin of morality
Morality arose from primitive man due to the fact that every man in the cave/village was needed, and to kill a fellow man over something so trivial would have placed the entire clan in danger due to lowering its numbers.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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#4
RE: The origin of morality
(April 2, 2013 at 7:43 pm)Mr Infidel Wrote: Morality arose from primitive man due to the fact that every man in the cave/village was needed, and to kill a fellow man over something so trivial would have placed the entire clan in danger due to lowering its numbers.
Prove it, otherwise it's just another 'just so' story and has no more basis in fact than a young earth creationist's calims.
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#5
RE: The origin of morality
Bonobo chimps, our closest relatives, have been observed with behavior that sure looks an awful lot like morality, including:

Sharing food with other group members, even when in short supply.
Protection of other group members.
Adoption of babies when mother dies.
Punishment of violent group members, usually ejection from the group.
Sadness when member dies.

And more.

Which god is responsible for Bonobo morality?

You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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#6
RE: The origin of morality
(April 2, 2013 at 8:11 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: Bonobo chimps, our closest relatives, have been observed with behavior that sure looks an awful lot like morality, including:

Sharing food with other group members, even when in short supply.
Protection of other group members.
Adoption of babies when mother dies.
Punishment of violent group members, usually ejection from the group.
Sadness when member dies.

And more.

Which god is responsible for Bonobo morality?

Hanuman.
(March 30, 2013 at 9:51 pm)ThatMuslimGuy2 Wrote: Never read anything immoral in the Qur'an.
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#7
RE: The origin of morality
(April 2, 2013 at 8:07 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: Prove it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality

Quote:Tribal and territorial

Celia Green made a distinction between tribal and territorial morality.[9] She characterizes the latter as predominantly negative and proscriptive: it defines a person’s territory, including his or her property and dependents, which is not to be damaged or interfered with. Apart from these proscriptions, territorial morality is permissive, allowing the individual whatever behaviour does not interfere with the territory of another. By contrast, tribal morality is prescriptive, imposing the norms of the collective on the individual. These norms will be arbitrary, culturally dependent and ‘flexible’, whereas territorial morality aims at rules which are universal and absolute, such as Kant’s ‘categorical imperative’ and Geisler's graded absolutism. Green relates the development of territorial morality to the rise of the concept of private property, and the ascendancy of contract over status.

From the viewpoint of evolution:

Quote:The development of modern morality is a process closely tied to the Sociocultural evolution of different peoples of humanity. Some evolutionary biologists, particularly sociobiologists, believe that morality is a product of evolutionary forces acting at an individual level and also at the group level through group selection (though to what degree this actually occurs is a controversial topic in evolutionary theory). Some sociobiologists contend that the set of behaviors that constitute morality evolved largely because they provided possible survival and/or reproductive benefits (i.e. increased evolutionary success). Humans consequently evolved "pro-social" emotions, such as feelings of empathy or guilt, in response to these moral behaviors. Conversely, it has been argued by other biologists that the humans developed truly moral, altruistic instincts.[15]
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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#8
RE: The origin of morality
Quote:Mr Infidel Wrote:
Morality arose from primitive man due to the fact that every man in the cave/village was needed, and to kill a fellow man over something so trivial would have placed the entire clan in danger due to lowering its numbers.

Prove it, otherwise it's just another 'just so' story and has no more basis in fact than a young earth creationist's calims.

Does common sense really need to be proven? Good god, you sound like an idiot right now.
If I were to create self aware beings knowing fully what they would do in their lifetimes, I sure wouldn't create a HELL for the majority of them to live in infinitely! That's not Love, that's sadistic. Therefore a truly loving god does not exist!

Quote:The sin is against an infinite being (God) unforgiven infinitely, therefore the punishment is infinite.

Dead wrong.  The actions of a finite being measured against an infinite one are infinitesimal and therefore merit infinitesimal punishment.

Quote:Some people deserve hell.

I say again:  No exceptions.  Punishment should be equal to the crime, not in excess of it.  As soon as the punishment is greater than the crime, the punisher is in the wrong.

[Image: tumblr_n1j4lmACk61qchtw3o1_500.gif]
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#9
RE: The origin of morality
(April 2, 2013 at 8:11 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: Bonobo chimps, our closest relatives, have been observed with behavior that sure looks an awful lot like morality, including:

Sharing food with other group members, even when in short supply.
Protection of other group members.
Adoption of babies when mother dies.
Punishment of violent group members, usually ejection from the group.
Sadness when member dies.

And more.

Which god is responsible for Bonobo morality?

Elephants do the very same thing, so are elephants one of our close relatives also.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
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#10
RE: The origin of morality
(April 2, 2013 at 8:56 pm)Godschild Wrote:
(April 2, 2013 at 8:11 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: Bonobo chimps, our closest relatives, have been observed with behavior that sure looks an awful lot like morality, including:

Sharing food with other group members, even when in short supply.
Protection of other group members.
Adoption of babies when mother dies.
Punishment of violent group members, usually ejection from the group.
Sadness when member dies.

And more.

Which god is responsible for Bonobo morality?

Elephants do the very same thing, so are elephants one of our close relatives also.

Close? Yes. Closer than bonobos? No. All other animals are our relatives.
We share genetics with all animals.
(March 30, 2013 at 9:51 pm)ThatMuslimGuy2 Wrote: Never read anything immoral in the Qur'an.
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