Below you will find an expert from my book “Improbable: Is There Any Reason To Believe In God” beginning with the first few paragraphs of Chapter 4, titled Morality. This chapter was perhaps the most interesting to write, so I hope you enjoy!
We all seem to have a basis of understanding as to how we ought to treat one another. The origin and the existence of our innate moral display is almost as mysterious to many people as is the origin of the universe, but monotheists claim to have such certain knowledge that the non-religious do not. It is great to ponder such a question, but only through conversation and debate can we determine how to positively apply a progressive moral outline. Two main arguments exist among the atheist and theist communities, one being that is was a divine inception that created our inclination to be good and proper, and the other being that it is our biological necessity for such.
Almost all monotheists are under the impression that our morally permissible behavior has been religiously inspired – a gift from God to be used as a tool to please him. Scientists, on the other hand, lean toward a more naturalistic basis for our willingness to treat others with compassion being needed in order to help a species survive. They also believe that we, as humans, have a very pliable psyche, and our society and culture help build upon that foundation. If a monotheist believes there to exist a divinely-inspired moral code, they must also believe their all-powerful God to have the utmost morality and would apply it accordingly if they wish to label him as omnibenevolent and omniscient.
If our moral perspective has been inspired by God, there ought to be an ultimate and non-flexible moral code. With that code for absolute morality, God must also be superfluous when following such a code himself. Further more, I would suggest that a knowledgeable and metaphysical mind would demonstrate a moral code inconceivable to the human mind – assuming of course that a mind such as that exists. Yet, the moral perspective from 3,500 years ago was much different than it is today. Progressive modern societies have demonstrated that we can collectively decide that senseless and unwarranted murder is reprehensible – something that the god of Abraham could neither command nor display. Looking at the moral image of God with an objective eye could possibly present one with that realization, but religious belief today often lacks that sort of perceptiveness. Even a quick overview of the Constitution in America is greatly superior to anything that God has described with any moral esteem.
In modern Christianity, the message of love and forgiveness is strewn about so carelessly that the God of the Old Testament if often forgotten. Through a well identifiable logical fallacy known as cherry picking, religious believers often neglect the horrifying and deplorable aspects of God, which may be either that or unknowing ignorance, and defend the God they’ve chosen to create through the positive scripture. But even that presentation is problematic; a god is timeless and transcendent. If the god of Abraham was real, and if scripture does accurately describe his disposition, these sorts of actions must be called into question, determining if God could have an infantile moral code compared to modern progressive civilizations. Still, ignorance toward scripture persists.
Are we to suppose that the God of the Old Testament, which is also Jesus as they are one in the same, is no longer the God of destruction and mayhem, of which the Bible and Qur’an tell? I believe not, but the fact is clear – He most certainly is. Both the Bible and Qur’an demonstrate this God’s attribute of morbidity quiet eloquently and capriciously. To be a monotheist, I must believe that the kind, loving, and compassionate nature of the human is a product of the same God that commanded Saul to carry out the wholesale slaughter of Amelakite men, women and children as detailed in the first book of Samuel.
To buy “Improbable: Is There Any Reason To Believe In God” in paperback form, follow the link here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/190867525X/
Joshua Brucker 