Why does God make something moral....?

Question

Is something moral because God does it, or does God do something because it is intrinsically moral? The reason I ask this is because if it's moral because God does it, then anything, including murder and stealing, could be considered moral simply because God does it. However, if God does something because it is intrinsically good, then goodness does not depend on God. I am constantly told that since I am an atheist, I have no motivation to be moral. I can’t see how God could possibly motivate someone to be moral, unless that person is being moral because they are afraid of God. The problem with that is if you’re being moral only because you fear God, then your not actually being moral, your just avoiding punishment.

Answer 1

Interesting question, and the bottom-line answer for me is: something is moral if it leads to love of other people and love of God.

So your question, "Is something moral because God does it," is a bit of a non-sequitor. Syllogism: God acts only in love. Anything God does is loving. All loving acts are moral. Therefore all Gods actions are moral.

The fundamentalists who tell you that because you are an athiest you have no motivation to be moral: they are saying a lot more about themselves than about you. Maybe THEY are so weak of internal fortitude that they need their strict, humorless, rule-oriented god to guide them, but most adults don't.

You're 100% right that if you only do what is right because you fear punishment, you are still on a very immature level of moral development. When you mature to the point where you do what is right BECAUSE it is right, then you are morally mature and a true lover of God.

Answer 2

The character of God is intrinsically just and intrinsically merciful. That is who God is.

Your statement, "God does something because it is good" evokes the image of God looking outside of Himself. But we cannot separate God from His character so saying that God does something because it is good has no meaning.

As an atheist, you have lots of motivation for acceptable behavior. You probably define socially acceptable behavior as moral and therefore you are moral if you are tractable.

Whereas the secular world is almost totally focused on controlling behavior, the Christian view is that good is almost a byproduct of the Christian experience. Christians are commanded by God to love our neighbors for that is how we seek God and find God. Where love is, there God is also. We use the Golden Rule to help us decide the loving thing to do.

Answer 3

God created the heavens and the earth so that the creatures he made in his own image would freely love him, become his children, and live in perfect happiness with him forever.

Given the nature of creation, human actions are intrinsically moral or immoral. For example, honoring and respecting your parents and keeping your promises are objectively ethical. Treachery and murder are objectively wrong. Thus, morality is not arbitrary, but written into the fabric of creation.

America's founders even built Christian thinking into our founding documents, recognizing that unalienable rights of life, liberty, and property depend on the hand of a Creator who established and sustains these rights.

Most atheists hold to some traditional Judeo-Christian moral standards as a vestige of the influence of Western culture. However, just as morality has no honor when performed out of fear, it has no claim to virtue in the absence of temptation.

It is when the atheist undergoes serious temptation that the absence of a relationship with God undermines his resistance to sin. For example, why make a tough choice to protect the life of a handicapped prenate or spare a comatose patient absent friendship with God and knowledge that these persons are made in God's image?

When the atheist's resistance to temptation crumbles, he soon begins to change his mind about morality. Thus, using drugs becomes freedom, aborting babies becomes a choice, fornication becomes safe sex, and same-sex coupling becomes marriage.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 4

Bryant T's answer above speaks eloquently to the issue you raise. I only have one thought to add.

God/Reality is neutral regarding morality. Our experience of reality simply mirrors the contents of consciousness. But, depending of course upon your spiritual level, you bring your sense of morality with you into this lifetime.

As an anecdote, what was most convincing to me as a eight year old child - that required that I examine the religious doctrine and morality that I was being taught - was the Christian misunderstanding of original sin. I was required because of my essential sinful nature to go through a simple-minded process of salvation (it varies between protestant denominations and is always a distortion of the founder's personal experience). I contemplated the issue (as best as I could) for four years looking for my sinful nature and immorality. I could not find it. Finally, I was forced to confront the fact that the adults were seriously mistaken in their understanding of the source of evil. During that time they were very convincing that I would suffer an eternal punishment in hell - but in the end I chose atheism at age eleven because I believed there was no alternative. Only as an adult did I discover the answers and the meaning of Jesus' profound contribution. It saddens me that religion still distorts the magnificent insights of so many adepts throughout history and across cultures.

Answer 5

The question may be: Who establish the standard of morals? Who is the ultimate authority? Some persons mentioned they learned morality from family, but are they the right authorities?
What is moral for you, it may be immoral for others. One man's food is another man's poison. So moral means to obey God's order. That is morality. We cannot create morality. We are imperfect. Our senses are imperfect. We do not know what is actually moral.
Just that a soldier, he is killing, his business is killing, and the more he kills he gets recognition. But as soon as he kills one man on his own account, he is murderer. Why? Because he is acting without authority.
All our activities are immoral. Everything.
Just like a gang of thieves. A gang of thieves, after plundering booties from some gentleman's house, they came outside the village, and they were dividing. So one of the thieves is saying, "Sir, Let us divide the booty morally." Now, their basic principle is immoral, and now they want to divide morally.

Answer 6

God does not do anything ... We Human beings have bound ourselves to something called as moral and immoral. What may be morally right for u may not be for me ... Only that is real is "understanding ". If you understand why the murder was done it becomes moral if u dont it is immoral. A moral act is generally accepted act.

Answer 7

Christians do not fear God as in being afraid. Christian fear God as being in awe of his power, wisdom, and love. Worship is an overflow of our thanksgiving to God for all the wonderful blessings he bestows upon us. Worship is about us loving God, not us being afraid of God.

This is all very simple, yet everday someone always says Christians are motivated by fear. Ironically it is always the unbelievers that bring up the topics of fear and hell, as if it is some type of suppressed phobia. Go figure that.

Answer 8

Morality is a human convention; basically every culture has come with morality on their own, regardless of which/how many gods they devised. some share strong similarities with cultures they have had no contact with beforehand.

Answer 9

Committing sin hurts you and those around you, both physically and spiritually. God didn't just make up rules/morals arbitrarily, they are all for our benefit. It's just like your parents set boundaries for you when you were a child. You may not have understood them, maybe even resented them for it. But in the end, it was because they loved you and wanted the best for you.

Answer 10

God doesn't make anything . God exists only in the imaginations of superstitious people . Everything that's claimed to have come from god , actually originated in some persons mind .