(December 4, 2017 at 5:52 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(December 4, 2017 at 5:36 pm)wallym Wrote: I kind of ran out of time on the previous reply...
A question, for you (or others).
In a hypothetical (from your perspective) world with no deity, do you suspect we'd still see religion and morality playing a big role in human history?
It's really hard to answer that since I don't think any of us would be here at all if it weren't for a sort of higher force.
Honestly, I dont think so. As far as morality goes, while I believe in evolution and evolutionary behavior and all that, I still do think it was planned/foreseen to be this way. As you can recall, i believe in natural law. So I think nature and the way the world works is specifically designed with these moral laws in place, which is why we can discover them through logic and observation of our world. In other words, everything just seems "a little too perfect." If a God didn't exist and we really were just purely material accidents, i don't think things would be quite as ordered in terms of morality, knowing goodness from evil, etc. I can't really say how I think they would be like instead... perhaps more animalistic without an existance of good and evil? Just that I think things are the way they are as a result of an intelligent designer.
As for religion, I think the same principles apply. I can see how religion was a part of the evolutionary process and survival of the fittest, but I think it was designed to be that way, if you will.
So when the Norse are praying to Thor during a storm, do you think that's probably only possible because of a Christian God? I didn't consider you'd say no to the previous answer, so I'm working out the implications on the fly. In the face of unexplained frightening power, what would keep a mind capable of rational thought from considering the concept of something more? You find it intuitive, do you not think intuitivity could exist? Or is it that extra little jump in evolution in our brains, that you consider a little too perfect, that you blame for that, and you don't think we could get to these brains without a designer?
And when animals behave in a way that mimics morality, do you think it has anything to do with morality, or it's just instinctive?
