Morality and God Essay - 1392 Words

Morality and God The belief that morality requires God remains a widely held moral maxim. In particular, it serves as the basic assumption of the Christian fundamentalists social theory. Fundamentalists claim that all of societys troubles - everything from AIDS to out-of-wedlock pregnancies - are the result of a breakdown in morality and that this breakdown is due to a decline in the belief of God. This paper will look at different examples of how a god could be a bad thing and show that humans can create rules and morals all on their own. It will also touch upon the fact that doing good for the wrong reasons can also be a bad thing for the person. The belief that morality requires God is not limited to theists, however. Many†¦show more content†¦Thou shalt steal everything you desire. Thou shalt torture innocent children in your spare time. ... The reason that this is possible is that killing, raping, stealing, and torturing were not wrong before God made them so. Since God is free to establish whatever set of moral principles he chooses, he could just as well have chosen this set as any other. However it is absurd to think that such needless killing, raping, stealing, and torturing could be morally permissible. Moreover, to believe that God could have commanded these things is to destroy whatever grounds one might have for praising or worshiping him. And if in accord with the definition of tyrants, justice consists in that which is pleasing to the most powerful? Besides it seems that every act of willing supposes some reason for the willing and this reason, of course, must precede the act. Leibnizs position is that, if things are neither right nor wrong independently of Gods will, then God cannot choose one thing over another because it is right. Thus, if he does choose one over another, his choice must be arbitrary. But a being whose decisions are arbitrary is not a being worthy of worship. The fact that Leibniz rejects the Divine Command Theory is significant, for he is one of the most committed theists in the Western intellectual tradition. He argues at great length that there must be an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God and consequently that this must be theShow MoreRelatedMorality and God1776 Words   |  8 Pagesperson be moral and not believe in God Name PHI 103 Informal Logic Instructor Date of Submission Morality only exists if we believe in God; therefore if God doesn’t exist there is no morality. There have been so many evil acts committed in the name of God that it is difficult to maintain that a belief in God equates to morality. There are situations that happen every day where decisions are made based off of human rights that contradict the word of God. Morality comes from within, it is an understandingRead MoreThe Between Morality And The Gods959 Words   |  4 Pageswrong in and of themselves. In following with the second option, i.e. that the gods love things because they are good, this forces one to admit that things are good separate from the gods; the things the gods love are pious regardless of the gods love. This means that the gods cannot cause morality in any way. Therefore, if one accepts either of the options in the Euthyphro dilemma, one must abandon the idea that the gods cause piety and that piety is inherent to certain acts. It is possible thatRead MoreMorality And The Existence Of God1619 Words   |  7 Pagesthis essay, I will be arguing that Zagzebski’s argument illustrates that it is rational to believe that God does exist. I will briefly explain the â€Å"Does Ethics need God?† fundamental argument about morality that is presented in Zagzebski’s argument. After the first two parts of my essay I will discuss some objections and respond them. I will argue that Zagzebski’s argument indeed proves that God exists and I will do this by outlining the main claims of this argument and by responding to objectionsRead MoreGod Vs. Morality?1113 Words   |  5 PagesKalee M. Ewald Professor Mark Kelley PHIL101 18 October 2015 God vs. Morality While going over the topic I chose, other questions came to mind like: does God exist? What exactly is murder? What does Moral mean? Can morality be based on other standard than the belief in God? With that, can individuals with conflicting religious beliefs resolve a dispute over what morality is? In my assessment I will argue that morality has no specific meaning other than that it is the cultural standard or customRead MoreThe Nature Of God And Morality Essay2024 Words   |  9 Pagesthe herd. One of these†¦ is morality† (Russell, 17), said by Bertrand Russell and highlights the intentions and efforts of morality. Morality arose for the good and the survival of the race, but was it the source of social evolution or that of a all powerful and good God? This was the source of the debate between christianity and atheism, or William Craig and Walter Armstrong.The ultimate question was not if you need faith or God to have ethics and moral order, but does God need to exist in order forRead MoreDebate On Morality With And Without God1046 Words   |  5 PagesSTEP II: PAPER OUTLINE Topic of debate: Morality with/without God I. Introduction: a. Throughout my life I have been involved in a dynamic battle that always comes back to one question: Is there such a thing as â€Å"God†? I have been raised up in a pretty much non-practicing Christian home. Growing up in this type of lifestyle I have encountered a multitude of different belief systems that were either Secular or Christian-like. But with this debate of if God is real or not, I have come across the issueRead MoreMorality without God Essay1303 Words   |  6 PagesMorality without God This question begins by assuming morals were created entirely by God and not just approved of by God. It also bypasses the possibility that there is no such God and man created morals using the authority intrinsic in the idea of a God in order to enforce them; thus raising the possibility that morals are learned but also partly innate and instinctual to humankind. The ideas raised target those who have no religious persuasionRead MoreGod, Morality, and Meaning in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road1187 Words   |  5 PagesCormac McCarthy’s novel The Road is, among other things, a meditation on morality, what makes human life meaningful, and the relationship between these things and God. While the novel is rife with religious imagery and ideas, it suggests a conception of morality and meaning that is secular in nature. In this paper I show that while the existence of God remains ambiguous throughout the novel, The Road contains both a clear moral code and a view about what makes life meaningful. I describe this moralRead MoreEssay about The Nature of God and Morality in The Bible1407 Words   |  6 Pagesis laid out within passages that serve as the laws, including Deuteronomy, and the Psalms, and in the stories, such as the stories of Job, David, Samuel, and the Family of Adam. The actions and nature of God in these stories are meant to be an example of the values and personality favored by God. In these passages, a structure for a just society is presented, and the values and examples, which are to be referred to and followed in the creation of this just society, are discussed. However, evenRead More Finding Morality and Unity with God in Dantes Inferno Essay1405 Words   |  6 PagesFinding Morality and Unity wi th God in Dantes Inferno Throughout the fast-paced lives of people, we are constantly making choices that shape who we are, as well as the world around us; however, one often debates the manner in which one should come to correct moral decisions, and achieve a virtuous existence. Dante has an uncanny ability to represent with such precision, the trials of the everyman’s soul to achieve morality and find unity with God, while setting forth the beauty, humor, and horror