Has anyone else had a religious friend ask where your sense of morality comes from? Didn’t really know what to say except that I enjoy making people feel good. Treat people as you want to be treated. That’s psych 101 to me...
Your morality comes from the same place as most people. The idea that morality comes from religion is silly. The christian bible is fine with infanticide, slavery, genocide, female subservience and a host of other things almost no one today is ok with. We have our morality as a human trait, not a religious "gift". They have morality in spite of religion.
Empathy existed before religion, it's a part of human evolution. That simple
I think that is one of the most common concerns religious people have about the non-religious: they conflate belief in the supernatural with morality.
My kid’s response is, “imagine you are babysitting a child. Do you want to hurt or abuse the child? Is that because your religion tells you not to? Chances are you wouldn’t want to hurt a child whether or not you have any religion. Well...that’s how I feel about all morality.”
Morality (or lack of it) exists before people attach religious ideas to it. And it will exist after the supernatural speculation dies away.
No but if I did I'd have some fun with them, fake them into thinking I had done all sorts of horrific things and had no idea whats wrong with it before asking wtf is wrong with them and telling them they need Jesus ? Then I guess I'd have to explain mirror neurons, the biological imperative for empathetic nerve systems, the undeniable benefits of the golden rule and how christianity didn't invent compassion, etc. It'll be a long night but at least it started with a laugh.
I would ask them where they find morality in a bible that is so full of immoral actions justified and sanctioned by an immoral god.