The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[TheRocketSurgeon]

The rules of my society don't condone genocide, rape, or slavery, which means that my society causes objectively less harm than the Jews did during Bible times, which makes my society's morality objectively better by a measurable standard (human rights and quality of life).

Based on your world view, that we have been discussing for a while, Why are these things wrong? If I am getting your view point correct. Man is a result of evolution over a long period of time. In some way life came from non-life. Humans are just products of unguided undersigned purposeless chance or evolved single celled organisms. Even if people, as evolved organisms, treat another evolved organism in a way that causes life or death the only value to these actions are a construct of a complex organism's personal value system. Justice or injustice is only constructed by a the evolved organism. If the human organism, as a whole, ever ceases to exist then all it's constructed values will end with it. So on a cosmic level it doesn't matter. The life and death of a single human organism is meaningless and will be forgotten in a few decades even if there is lore attached to that organism.

 
Now in my worldview I have a bases as to say genocide, rape or slavery are wrong because it is based in the creator of all thingswho cherishes His creation. He also protects and is righteously jealous of His people.  In protecting His people, only He would know what was a right and just action (knowing all and perceiving every intention of the heart). Both His protective and jealous actions have also allowed some actions as you stated above to happen to His own people.  But they are always preceded with warnings, and specific instructions on how not to be "wiped of the face of the earth".  I may have failed at completely revealing to you the "Fullness" of God, like how Him just being the creator of all things would allow Him to do whatever He wished at the time, whether it was perceived as good or bad.  I also know that no one can know God without a revelation from Him, and He is generous with His revelations.  I could share some scripture with you as to how God is merciful even in these situations. I think we would create a less contemptuous discussion, and be able to work together at understanding what we both truly believe. 

No. Some view points are aligned with the facts of reality, and some are contrary to them. View points that go against the facts have objectively less merit than view points that agree with them.

Based on your definition of the world not having a purpose or function. So someone's viewpoint is just a human construct, and someone evaluating how closely that view point is to reality, is also a human construct. If so there is not merit to either view; in fact there wouldn't even be a value on which to base "merit" upon.

I know you're not speaking to me here, Rekeisha, but I feel obliged to respond to this.

First, thank you for having moderated your tone and way of speaking toward us. We are not an enemy, just people who disagree and who insist on sticking to testable reality as our basis of forming opinions about things. I had stopped paying attention to this thread in large part because of my disgust over people who think they are personally or morally superior to us, and who won't actually listen to us.

Yes, morality is a human construct. We determine what is good and bad; that's why it varies so much from society to society. Even things like murder, which you'd think would be objectively the same across all societies, turns out to be variably defined. To adopt the biblical version for all mankind, and call it objective, is ludicrous to us because we can see clearly that the values of the Bible are the values of one small tribe of Bronze/Iron-Age tribal sheepherders, and that many of the "values" contained within are reprehensible by modern standards, like genocide and slavery, both of which are affirmed in that book as moral actions, even ones commanded by God. It is clear to all of us that it is really humans claiming to speak for God, not God actually speaking.

So when you tell us that we have "no basis" for moral judgment, to say that one thing is wrong while another is right, you're writing off the entirety of human civilization. We DO make such judgment calls, and we do it all the time, in many different ways. Even the Christians don't base their morals on some "objective" standard, as can be shown clearly by even a casual look at history. In my above example, for instance, the entire US Civil War was fought because Southerners believed that the Bible clearly condoned race-based slavery in Leviticus 25:44-46, as permanent, inheritable servitude for those who were not of your own people. The Southern Baptist Convention exists, today, literally because they split off from the mainline Baptist church over the issue, when northern Baptists started to adopt anti-slavery positions. Now you cannot find a Christian who will defend slavery... their moral values have changed, and for the better.

What is their basis for saying slavery is wrong, then? It's certainly not biblical!