Guest guest Posted May 12, 2006 Report Share Posted May 12, 2006 > Pamho, agtSP! > > Let discuss the atheistic argument below. Its taking from "What is > atheism? - a short introduction" by Douglas E. Krueger. > > -------------------- > > Does God command what is good because God recognizes what is good, or is > something good because God commands it? > > According to Plato this gives the theist a dilemma, because if something > is good because God commands it, then anything can be considered good as > long as God commands it. It would make no sense to ask whether God's > commands are good. God could commands someone to bash infants to death, to > commit genocide, to stone people to death etc. and such things would by > definition be good acts. If this scenario was true then it would not be an > ethical system, but a system of blind obedience to a being. It would be > slavery - they will do whatever God commands. According to many this > scenario is unacceptable, and therefore they deny that something can only > be good if God commands it. > > The other posibillity, however, is also problematic, because if God > recognizes what is good and then afterwards will what is good, then the > theist is admitting that there is a standard of goodness independent of > God, and is, in fact, admitting that God is not the source of morality. In > this scenario God at best becomes an intermediary or a reporter about > ethics, but he's not its source. This option is also undesirable for the > theist, since it admits that God is not the source of ethics, and if God > is not the source of ethics then there is nothing in principle which could > show that the atheist can't have an ethical system also. > > Thus, the theist must choose between admitting that he or she has no > standard of ethics but merely a principle of slavery, or admitting thatGod > os not the source of morality. > > -------------------- > > What do you Vainsavas have to say to this argument. I have a few comments, > but I would like to will listen to all of you first... I don't see how you get into that dilema if you accept the Vedic version that God is absolute and the ultimate source of everything. Yes, God defines what is good and what is moral and ethics. He is the absolute source of everything, good as well as evil. It is not blind obedience since the soul has the free will to either follow God's laws or not. ys, jdd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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