this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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Atheism
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So for the people here who don't know what this is about: Super conservative Christians like to claim that without God, there can be no morals because God told us what's right or wrong. They deny the intrinsic morals we humans have. This image turns that BS argument on it's head.
No, what it shows is that people who call themselves Christians can be caught up in evil things, same as everyone else. To your point, humanity has some intrinsic moral understanding, certainly heavily configured by the surrounding society, for the survival of society. It's not triggered necessarily by faith in some deity. Everyone is capable of good. Everyone is capable of evil.
If you want to take it a step farther and argue with someone pushing the "only Christians have a sense of morals" stupidity on their own turf, just point out that according to the Bible, we are made in God's image, and since he has a sense of good and evil, therefore so do we. Even an evolution loving, abortion having, pot smoking, illegal immigrant might technically be created in God's image. They have morals, and can do good or evil things.
I think in Christian lore, that's supposed to be the role of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2–3). It's fruits are forbidden. Serpent, original sin.
Bottom line it does not change your argument, since all humans after that point in the story have that ability. Just the reason is different.
No it doesn't. All this image is implying is that Christians can be immoral. It says absolutely nothing about the idea that an objective morality needs an external source. This is claimed (incorrectly I would argue) by many atheist philosophers as well, so it's not just "Super conservative Christians" that say it.
If the image was intended to do what you said then it utterly failed.