What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I believe God, being master of the universe,  is the one who establishes goodness and morality.

Do you agree that slavery is good? Do you believe that genocide is good? Do you believe that pronouncing the death penalty for all humans in history over the applebite is the act of a good god?

My purpose for creating this thread was to hear *your* views and discuss them with you.

So, ya got anything?

I do good because I have empathy for other folks, because it feels good to make people happy, because I have a son and wish him to inherit a better world than I did, and because assholes make enemies. How do I know what good is? I go by empathy and the Golden Rule. Christian doctrine is entirely unnecessary, and indeed, a close reading of the Bible shows that your god's morality has evolved. Your god's conception of goodness has changed over the years.

Indeed, you'd think that the more Christian a country, by your logic, the better the behavior of the people, but that doesn't hold true -- a simple comparison of USA and Japan will reveal that. You'd think that men of God would be more moral, but your own church's recent history shows that Christianity is no guarantee of goodness.

The question is, where does the universal truth "murder is wrong" come from?

Empathy. Do you really need to be told that it's wrong by a god?