(May 12, 2011 at 2:58 pm)diffidus Wrote: If you believe in God, then how to behave is simple: This life is transient and if you do good things you will spend the rest of eternity in Heaven, whereas, if you behave badly you go to Hell for eternity. If you truly believe in God, then you cannot question the morality of this because God, being perfect, could not be in error.
If you do not believe in God, then this life is still a fleeting transient moment compared to the age of the universe, but how to behave is not so clear. Since this is the one and only existence, then the only rational course is to pursue those things that serve your own ends and maximise the pleasure and happiness of your short vacation from the dark abyss of eternity.
With regard to the latter, this means that the only grounds for altruism is if you happen to be a person who enjoys putting others before yourself. If you happen to be selfish thats OK too. The only thing you need to avoid is breaking the Law, since this may take away your freedom which would diminish your existence. Apart from that, it is a free for all - a morality of ends?
Determining what God says is "good" is still left up to humans.. The "imperative" is fleeting.. In other words..
A person murders someone because they believe God's law requires them be a sacrifice..
A person murders someone because they believe the person to deserve it..
My point is that the source of morality is irrelevant.. Human "will" determines what will be accepted.. followed.. or acted upon... The sense of justice lies with the individual always.. what tempers this is their own understanding of life be it through the prism of an order from a deity, their state or own understanding..
