What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Catholic_Lady]

CL: this will be my last ride round the merry go round, and feel free to not answer any of my questions. This is curiosity, not an interrogation I shall leave you in peace whether or not you answer these.

1. So... what does it matter if something is "inherently wrong"? What is the point of this phrase? Who is it inherently wrong to? Clearly not to us as humans, as we take the situation into account before deciding how wrong it was. If God thinks it's inherently wrong but even he makes allowances, what is left? What does it matter if it's inherently wrong, why not call it inherently cheesecake? At best you can say it's probably wrong before considering mitigating factors. Would you agree?

2. Objective means it applies to everyone and everything and is not dependent on anyone's opinions or perspective. A commandment about morality from God is therefor not objective. You seem to be wanting to make god's opinion objective. But he can have whatever opinion he wants, right? Or is his opinion ultimately bound by something else?

3. As for Jesus, it appears that because he said, "Treat others as you want to be treated" that we can just assume he meant whatever we like about other subjects whether he says so or not. That is quite clearly projecting your own morality onto the bible, not the other way round. Now don't get me wrong, that is great! I'll take your morality over the bible any day of the week.

numbers, mine

Ok, here are my opinions:

1. It matters that we know something is inherently wrong so that we can act accordingly by not doing it. As is evident by what some societies have done to one another (slavery, killing infidels, burning rape victims, etc), believing that we can just make up whatever we want to think is moral can be dangerous and harmful.
It is not inherently wrong to anyone in particular. It just is. The definition of inherent means "existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute." So I can say the Earth is inherently a sphere. This does not mean it is spherical just to some people. Or it depends on who's asking. It means it is, in and of itself, spherical because it was made that way. Some people can think it's flat, but they are incorrect. It is round. So, like the earth is inherently spherical, rape is inherently immoral. Those 2 things just are, regardless of whether another person says otherwise.
I do not think God makes "allowances." I think He just judges a person based on the state of their mind at the time that they commited an act. This does not mean the objective act ceases to be immoral, it just means the person can have varying levels of guilt depending on what was going on in their heads when they committed such acts.
Look at my example about the insane man who murdered 10 shoppers. The act of going into a mall and murdering 10 people is immoral and illegal, but due to the man's state of mind, he did not get the same verdict as a sane man who premeditated and committed the same act.

2. It is objective. I know you do not believe in God, but if you're trying to understand my views, you have to look at it through my lenses here. God is not just some person with an opinion about morality. God created morality. He created the concept of morality and it is because He created it a certain way that it is so, and that it is what it is. Let's go back to the Earth. He created it (though evolution) as a sphere. The Earth is what it is and it is a sphere because it was made that way. Same with morality. The Earth being a sphere is an objective reality just as rape being immoral is an objective reality. And God made it that way.

3. Well since I believe Jesus is God, I believe He spoke as the entity who created this law in the first place lol. But I agree with you, this is a blanket statement because, while us normal folks want to be treated well, who's to say there aren't people out there who legitimately want to be treated poorly? Who legitimately want to be treated with disrespect? (I'm not talking about a fetish here where this is consensually agreed upon, I'm talking about an individual who, as a general rule, wants to be treated in a nasty way by the people around him. I've never known of a person like that, but there are crazies for everything).
So yes, treat other the way you want to be treated is a good general rule, but because there can be some pretty "interesting" individuals out there, it is not the end all be all. Which is precisely why Jesus got more specific and repeatedly commanded us to love. On multiple occasions He told us to love, and love no matter what. And He said that this commandment to love is one of 2 of his greatest and most important commandments. That trumps whatever questions a person may have about the possible subjectivity of "treating others the way we want to be treated."

Ok Rob, good questions. Hope that helps you better understand my views!