blueguy said:What is morality? Just that. Some rule somebody came up with that benefits themselves.
Do not tell me that you can derive a morality from God. The creator of this world is responsible for and allows all the events therein to occur.
this is what it comes down to. if you don't believe that life is more than our mere physical existence then morality is not of much use. you might as well eat, drink and be merry until the lights go out.
however, if you believe there is more to life than mere physical existence, if you believe there is a metaphysical / spirtual element to life, then morality becomes of the utmost importance - it becomes the defining factor in one's life.
there is no question that we are living in a secular world where morality is a face most people put on, empty words, to cover up their immoral ways.
and the only reason they put on that face is there are enough people who believe life is about more than merely the physical and who value morality. they simply want to fit in with this crowd as needed, so they fake being moral. and because they were raised to appear like a good girl or good boy - they dont want people knowing who they really are.
at the end of the day, morality is really a spiritual issue. do unto others as you would have them do unto is the core of morality, and it is founded in religiosity.
as for deriving a morality from God, people can say what they want, but if you take the bible as the word of God, God was pretty clear on what was moral and what was immoral. not looking to start a God debate, just saying that the 10 commandments are pretty clear on the rules of the game.
and this is why there is no right or wrong in all of this. if you are spiritual and live your life as such, then it would be wrong to sleep with another man's woman. if you are an atheist or don't believe in a moral creator, then you should live life taking advantage of every opportunity life gives you - its dog eat dog and each is responsible for fending for themselves.
if you can rob an old lady of her life savings, why not? in a dog eat dog world her problems are not your problems. empathy is a weakness.
personally im a spiritual person and see part of my responsibility on this planet as making the world a better place to the extent I am able to. so i conduct myself as such. definitely not the easier of the two paths, especially when most people have long discasrded spirituality and the accompanying commitment to morality.
should be interesting to hear what VU has to say if he chimes in on this thread. he'll have some good insights.