Social Contracts

[Exian]

It seems damn near impossible for theists (I might as well narrow it down to Christians, since they are who I have the most experience with, even on AF) to imagine a moral code without god. As if, even if they understand the concept, it's too flimsy for them to except morality as "merely" a social agreement. So, I wondered if there was a good tangible example of a vulnerable social contract that works everyday even though it seems it shouldn't. I came up with money. I'm sure there are other examples, but this is something they can see and feel. What say you? Would money be a good argument for those who say morality is objective, and that a moral code built around the agreement of the community would never work?

I think the parallels work swimmingly. Currency is different, not only for every country you visit, but it changes with time within a given area; same as morality, except money is tangible.

Even better, they couldn't claim money as an "objective truth" invented by god. Also, I know I couldn't have been the first to draw this comparison, if its any good.

So go ahead and tear this apart for me and/or provide a better example, as I'm sure there are more.

[VeryBerryMix]

Although some, if not many, religious people believe that their moral code is stemmed from their religious beliefs I believe that is just how they are perceiving the inherent morality that 9/10 of us intrinsically live life by.

For example, a Christian might say that they will not steal from 7-Eleven because God will judge them and punish them but ultimately it's probably due to the fact that stealing from others causes those being stolen from harm which most of us will feel bad about doing. We know what it would feel like to be stolen from so we don't really want to do it to others. Hurting others hurts the community which ultimately hurts you.

In other words, they are just giving credit to their god and doctrine for something that is probably just human nature for most of us. This merely confirms their bias to themselves in a way.

[Exian]

Oh, I agree, but how would you demonstrate that to them? I think the arbitrary value (and lack thereof) of money would be a good teaching tool (if I'm willing to kid myself).

[Redbeard The Pink]

I think money is an excellent way to create that analogy and would make an excellent tool for explaining that to people. I also think most any theist you'd care to discuss it with would simply shit all over it with false logic and emotional arguments before declaring themselves the winner.

[Exian]

Yeah, I'm kidding myself. Thanks for seconding that, oh fictional one.

[Exian]

I wonder how they would argue that? They'd probably try to change the subject-

"Well, that there's why I think we should go back to the gold standard."

Then they'd draw parallels to the gold standard and objective morality. Buttholes.

But even then, we could demonstrate how the gold standard retarded growth and capitalism, which necessitated the movement towards an arbitrary social agreement, much the same as our continued progression away from unequalities like slavery and civil injustices.

[Redbeard The Pink]

There's also the fact that the "gold standard," like the value of anything, is completely subjective and changes with time. There is no such thing as objective value, just as there is no such thing as objective morality. The value of gold, like the value of the dollar, is an arbitrary social agreement.