On Moral Authorities

[Tonus]

Sure, a theist can simply announce that morality is subjective, and there's no problem to be had.

I think that depends on their "rule book." Many Christians insist that good and evil are based on what god commands and that god himself is exempt from judgment because he transcends the morality that he imposes upon humans. Thus morality is objective for humans even if it's subjective for god. The problem with this approach is that the Bible has numerous passages where god specifically commands people to commit acts that are 'objectively' wicked for humans. I don't think you can square that by saying "but god commanded it." If the act in question is objectively wicked when performed by a human, god's permission does not change that. And in all of those examples, god could have taken the desired action himself, so there are no mitigating circumstances.

If we can reason out why an action is right or wrong, then we do not need god to tell us. In which case, the ten commandments and the rest of the law given to the Israelites were not a moral guide that supersedes human reason. They were simply a list of laws like any other organized society eventually creates. Which is sensible if we read through the list of laws. Yes, nearly every government makes murder against the law. How many of them make working on the Sabbath a capital crime? How many forbid the boiling of baby goats in their mother's milk?