Thoughts on Objective Morality

Objective morality is one of the most common arguments for the existence of God. This topic has been covered thoroughly, but I wanted to just kind of share my personal take. The argument goes like this; objective morality can not exist without God, and we have objective morality, therefore God must exist. Simple enough, right?

Well the problem is that no one is actually quite sure we have objective reality. In fact, there are quite a lot of people who argue morality is subjective, which is the side of the fence I too fall on. Morality is not objective. Our perception of morality changes as society changes. Things that were not acceptable half a century ago, are extremely common and hardly noticed in today's society. Many aspects of sexuality is a prime example. But what about bigger things, muder, rape, pedophilia, surely every one knows these things to be immoral so it must be objective. Well, what about the people that commit these acts? Did they believe, or know, these things are immoral. In many cases, they may, but impulses may have taken over, maybe the person was intoxicated. Who knows? I think in many cases people don't see their acts as immoral because of subjective emotions, which are for each one of us our moral compass. Morality can not be objective if determined by our emotions.

What about children? Do they know what is moral and immoral? Let's say around the age 10-13, do these young minds know that murder is wrong no matter what? Wait, but murder isn't wrong no matter what. I mean even in the justice system of our "Christian nation" there is such a thing as justifiable homicide. Of course, this person was defending their life, their home and their family, surely that is not immoral. And we can't make that distinction with objective morality. If morality is objective, then murder is either wrong, or it is right. When we are talking about absolutes there can not be gray areas.  What about Hitler? A Catholic. Did he believe what he did to the Jewish people was immoral? Of course not, he thought he was doing something righteous. In his mind his actions were not immoral. Subjective morality.

Stop and think this through. Everything is subjective. We subject everything to our own judgement, to our mind's perception, to the emotions we feel. Everything. War, genocide, rape, and even disasters beyond our control. Why do people commit the most depraved acts imaginable if we KNOW it is wrong because of objective morality. Because it's God's plan? Humans have free will and evil is necessary for God to teach us virtue. Is it? If God uses evil to teach us virtue, then he is not omnibenevolent. He can not be all good, and use evils to teach us. If he can not stop those evils then he is not omnipotent. If he was unable to foresee evil to come, then God doesn't have a plan, and he his not omniscient.  Yes, the Creationist's favorite dilemma. The problem of evil. There is no objective morality, and there is no explanation for evil that upholds the Christian belief system. You can solve the problem of evil, but at the cost of destroying your belief structure.

Observations of the World and Religion

The world around us is a confusing place. There is so much that we don't understand and we can not explain. As humans, we struggle with this. It is very hard for us to come to terms with all of these concepts that we simply can not understand. We don't understand how the universe came into existence (although we have some pretty solid theories pointing in a good direction), but we don't know and certainly do not understand ALL the science behind it. We don't understand all the evils in our world, of human or natural cause. Humans need to fill that gap, most of us are not content to say "I don't know".

Everyone is looking for something to fill that gap, something greater than themselves. Many turn to religion. Fantastical fairy tales from centuries ago. Although these stories defy logic and baffle the rational mind, many are content to live with in the confines of this, because let's be honest, it makes us feel good. People are comforted to think there is someone up there looking after us. That there is a plan to what appears as chaos around us at times. I can understand that. Sure, it's wonderful to have someone looking after you, protecting, knowing that your life is planned out so you don't have to worry.

However, none of that makes these beliefs true, or correct. Like a child creates an imaginary friend when they're bored or lonely, adults have done the same thing.  Imagine though, all the time spent praying. Imagine if you took that time and applied yourself toward what you were praying for. How much could you accomplish? How many hungry people could you feed, how many diseases could be cured? On the more personal, or selfish side, how many more job interviews would have gone better? Would your raise have been bigger? Who knows, the list of things people pray for is endless. The truth is these prayers are not going to be answered. 

I always hear, "it's just God's plan", and "everything happens for a reason", and that "all prayers are answered, just not in the way you think". But these are merely subjective emotions. Your prayer was not answered, you did not feel God. The reason you did not feel God is because nearly all of our experiences are experienced internally. What I mean is, the reality we see is not reality, it is only our reality. We do not see with our eyes, hear with our ears, or feel with our skin. All of this is done with the human brain. The brain has to process and interpret every thing we experience, everything we see, touch, taste, feel, and hear. So if your brain is kind of "programmed" to apply a feeling of being "touched by God" to these "unexplainable" circumstances and experiences, then you will "feel God". 

Personal experience can not be proof of God. It simply can not. All of our experiences and the subjective emotions we feel in reaction are only our own interpretation. Now, if you are willing to admit to that, and say I admit it is only my perception and it does not mean God actually exists, but I still believe he does. Then I actually take no issue with that. As long as you are not using a claim of personal internal experience to validate or prove the existence of a god or any specific God, then that is ok. If religion helps you, if it makes you a better person and makes you feel good, then more power to you. However you must always remember this does not make your claim absolute.

We can all benefit from these realizations. Atheists alike, must admit, although there is much to suggest that a god does not exist in our universe, we can not prove it. It is not absolute. That doesn't mean the discussion should stop. It doesn't mean that the pursuit for the truth and actual cause of our splendid universe should cease. In fact, it means even more that it needs to continue. I embrace science and the natural world for all that it is and all that it is capable of. The power is vast, infinite, that is to say beyond our comprehension as humans. Evolution is something to marvel at, and yes, it is true. It is not a theory that is merely dreamt up. It is a scientific theory. The reason it remains a "theory" is because the only absolute facts are those that can be proven through mathematical equations. To be very technical, I can pick up a rock and say "this is a rock". If you say, "no it's not", I have little to really refute that with. However the overwhelming majority of people would agree that it is in fact, a rock. Therefore it is accepted as fact.  A scientific theory is accepted as fact because it can not be refuted. The theory of evolution is as much a theory as the theory of gravity.

Basically what I am saying is, it's time we all stop and think things through. I mean Christians believe that God impregnated a virgin through immaculate conception, who gave birth to him, died to rise from the dead and forgive our sins. Really? Think it through. It just doesn't make sense. It's just, well, dumb. And people base their entire lives around this belief system. This doesn't end with religion, we need to think everything through. We have the ability to change the world, but we continue to stay stuck in the same routines, because it's God's plan. It is not God's plan. We are not predestined, we are not controlled by fate. We all make our own destiny, and the sooner we realize and embrace that, the sooner we can begin to change the world for the better, for everyone.