for those who believe they don't need God to tell them right from wrong?

Question

Where did you get your knowledge of right from wrong from? and who is the authority on that. You? And also- is there any abolute truths or is every relative with you. Just curious-

JACK P- now we are blaming God for people hurting others? WOW

sorry if you think it is arrogant that i consider what is right from wrong based on the bible. For that person- couldn't I say the same for you, due to the fact that you rate what is right from wrong, according to yourself? I rely on God, not myself, how can that be arrogant- just a thought

Answer 1

We ALL need God some just don't realize it yet. The Bible says they have scales over their eyes.

Answer 2

I like what Dreamstuff Entity, said...
hurting others = bad, helping others = good...

If it is always wrong to hurt someone, and always right to help someone, this is a statement of absoluteness... ie based on an assumption that truth is absolute.

Somehow, everyone needs to come to a knowledge of universal right and wrong.

Logically there could be two ways people could come to understand universal truth:

(1) Figure it out through experimentation and deduction, or

(2) Learn from someone else, who also learned truth through either (1) or (2).

To me, truth is both absolute and relative. For instance, we are commanded "Thou shalt not kill." This is the general rule, but if it were an absolute truth, then Abraham would not have been willing to kill his own son, when God commanded it.

Polygamy is another relative truth that many Christians take as an absolute truth (see 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_tim/3/2,12#2 ), because of the Lutheran idea that the Bible is God's only and last word.

If polygamy was wrong in all cases, then Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon would not have been "right with God".... yet there is Biblical evidence that they received God's blessings in abundance, even after they married more than one wife.

(David lost his blessings... as you can see in his writings... when he committed adultery and murder against Uriah. Solomon lost his blessings when he allowed his wives to turn him to idolatry.)

The only Absolute Truth for me, is God's Will.

Why should God's will rule every decision? Because he has enough foresight to see what will be of most benefit in the long run... (An eg. of "immoral wisdom" - 1 Kings 3:25-26 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_kgs/3/25-26#25 )

So, how can I know God's will for me, when his written word shows that his commandments change in different circumstances? The Bible is static, but God is a living being who adapts his actions to suit his purposes (which are wise and benevolent).

We need a more flexible way of knowing what His will is... See John 16:13 - http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/16/13#12.

Added: Ray Patterson summed it up very nicely.... ie we need an internal connection to truth/morality.

Answer 3

I was raised well, I have a strong moral conflict when i do things i don't consider moral. My parents were moderately religious.

1.My knowledge of distinguishing between right and wrong comes from my reasoning capabilities i suppose.

2.Yes, I am the authority behind that.

3.Well, I would consider some absolute truths to include murder, and several other of the 10 commandments. (No I don't believe in god, but some of them make since and should be abided by in a functioning society)

I act and do what i do, not out of fear of Hell/afterlife, rather out of the principle that I should treat others how I would like to be treated, it just makes sense.

Answer 4

well Dreamstuff entity did sum it up pretty well. And it's not so much that I don't need God to tell me as that I think somebody telling you what is right and wrong is essentially impossible. How can you know that you should listen to somebody except by knowing that what they say is good. Don't you listen to God because you think God is good? Why do you think God is good? Surely not just because he says so (does he say so?)? I see no connection between the existence or knowledge of God and the existence or knowledge of moral absolutes.

edit: yes, I agree with the poster above that the moral absolutes could in themselves be called God. But that's not really God "telling" you what is right and wrong, that's more like connecting to God every time you make a moral decision or something like that. And I see no reason whatsoever that that God is the Jealous God called JHWH. And I think that moral absolutes being incarnated and walking the earth is not just a miracle but an error of catagory.

Answer 5

God has never told anybody what is right and what is wrong. Every thing attributed to god comes rught out of some person's superstitious head.
The knowledge of what is right and what is wrong comes from society, civilization, and the golden rule. The church is the johnny-come-lately that claims it invented morals.
If something is good, the church is right there to take credit, but with all the bad that goes on in this world, you're told to look somewhere else.
We certainly do need god. Today is Saturday ( Saturn day ). Without the great god Saturn, god of plantings and harvesting, we would all starve to death.

Answer 6

This question is more complicated than you might think. Why don't animals usually kill others of their own species? I believe it's because they have an instinct for preservation of their species. Humans have that same instinct which extends to coexisting with others of our own species. The concept we think of as morality stems from this basic instinct for survival of the species. That's morality at a core level. Every other aspect of morality is based on customs and traditions developed over thousands of years, culminating in the religious texts and dogma that we know today.
Morality is relative. A fundamentalist Muslim and a fundamentalist christian both believe in God, but there are differences in what they consider acceptable (moral) behavior.

Answer 7

if there is a God, of course the knowledge of right and wrong would come from God. Jack, i dont see where she mentions the Bible. i believe in a universal intelligence which i usually designate as 'god'.... i only see the prescence of god in the natural world, in the kindness of strangers, etc. i get my knowledge of right and wrong , via my heart, from that. i was brought up as a christian, so, to be completely honest, i may be biased here. as for absolute/relative truth, im still working on that one. im sorta in the middle , there.

Answer 8

It's not that I believe I don't need God to tell right from wrong...I'm an atheist, so I don't believe that God exists in the first place.

Anyway, many philosophers have worked on the idea of moral absolutes. We also have the law to tell us right from wrong, the lessons learned from our parents, and also many atheists follow the ideas of secular humanism.

All in all, most atheists and Christians would only disagree on morals when it comes to sexual issues - contraception, homosexuality, abortion, sex outside marriage - and a few other areas.

Answer 9

God's always provided a good excuse for humans to harm other humans. However, the record provided by the history of such motivations isn't one admire.

I don't look outside myself when it comes to choices I make which might cause harm to others. I bite the bullet and do what I believe needs doing, and I face whatever the consequences are for my actions without anyone, physical, or metaphysical, to blame for my choices.

Answer 10

I base my beliefs on right and wrong on concern and compassion for my fellow human being. The golden rule is my basic building block, and the golden rule in some form or another is included in MANY religions and philosphies.

I don't need the threat of eternal torment to prevent me from murdering and stealing, but many freely admit that they do, so I am glad that there is religion for those people who wouldn't know right from wrong without the threat of hell hanging over their heads OR the promise of heaven. However, it is scary that some get their right and wrong from religious texts that instruct them to kill people who don't believe "correctly" such as the Old Testament, the Koran, etc.

Answer 11

Well, where the HELL do you get YOURS? You obviously don't get it from the Bible or you'd be trying to kill half of America! You completely reject more than half of the Bible as foolishness, or you're in jail. If you follow it to the letter(impossible, because of all the contradictions), then you shall surely be thrown in an asylum.