(July 18, 2015 at 3:53 am)robvalue Wrote: This is one of those questions which highlights the core problems with "religious morality".
If your only standard is God, then you have no grounds to reject anything he says, even if he changes his mind. You can't even say you prefer how things used to be, because that implies some other standard you are using to judge God.
So if the theist says they will refuse, they are admitting to some different form of morality separate from God. If they agree, then they show they are entirely amoral, and have no actual objections to rape and murder themselves; just that God says don't do them (which is debatable).
So they kind of can't answer. I'll be impressed if anyone gives an honest answer.
That is worth repeating. It is the Euthyphro dilemma in different words. And it is a very nice summary of the issue, drawing out a very important point about what morality based on god really means.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
