It's part theology, part flock tending. If there are no morals without God than anyone who is not a member of the religion can't help but be evil. Taken to it's logical conclusion, this means you need to convert them to goodness and be suspicious of everything they say until they convert.
Furthermore, I'm sure velvetpage's father is talking about the Christian theory that everything good flows from God. That any act of goodness by a person is inspired by God and therefore any moral system that does not revolve around God can't be good.
Of course, the classical counterpoint is that is something good because God tells you to do it, or does God only tell you to do good things? In the first case, if God told you to drown kittens it would good because God told you to do so. In the second, it implies that there is a seperate moral order that is independent of God and therefore God isn't actually the center of your moral system. It's a catch-22.
My opinion is any moral system that involves a deity is not in fact moral. Just like the rant linked by velvetpage says. If your moral system is tied to deific approval then you can justify any action, no matter how horrible as "good". No thanks, I'll take secular morality, instead.
Secular moralists can be just as bad, but instead of trying to convince themselves and others that their actions are good, they have to try to convince others that their actions were necessary. Which, I think, is a more reasonable place for arguments to be.
no subject
Furthermore, I'm sure velvetpage's father is talking about the Christian theory that everything good flows from God. That any act of goodness by a person is inspired by God and therefore any moral system that does not revolve around God can't be good.
Of course, the classical counterpoint is that is something good because God tells you to do it, or does God only tell you to do good things? In the first case, if God told you to drown kittens it would good because God told you to do so. In the second, it implies that there is a seperate moral order that is independent of God and therefore God isn't actually the center of your moral system. It's a catch-22.
My opinion is any moral system that involves a deity is not in fact moral. Just like the rant linked by velvetpage says. If your moral system is tied to deific approval then you can justify any action, no matter how horrible as "good". No thanks, I'll take secular morality, instead.
Secular moralists can be just as bad, but instead of trying to convince themselves and others that their actions are good, they have to try to convince others that their actions were necessary. Which, I think, is a more reasonable place for arguments to be.