For all of you who know what this is: Congratulations! Have fun!
For all of you who don't already know, here is the dilemna:
"Is what is moral commanded by God because it is moral, or is it moral because it is commanded by God?"
First proposed by Plato, the dilemna has pretty much made many theological philosophers bat**** insane, if you'll excuse my French. Here's the dilemna in English:
Many if not all religions (especially the Abrahamic Faiths) claim that their God s source of all goodness and morality. However, how do you define "good"? This is where you get into the good part.
If "good" is doing what feels right, then you don't need God to explain it.
If "good" is what God says, then we get into the messy area.
If God's "good" command are given because they are moral, then you're back to the first part: You don't need God (an intermediary) because you can explain human morality just as well using biology/genetics/whatever.
If, however, morality is "good" because God says so, then you really have no standard for determining goodness! It's really nothing more than saying "God is good because he is good" (circular). By this logic, whatever God commanded would be good and moral and thus he could easily command atrocities. If God commanded you to burn down your neighborhood and kill all your neighbors, would you do it?
At this point, most theists would probably respond with the idea that "goodness is an essential part of God's nature." However, this is only moving the goalposts. For one thing, it is still circular (God is good because God is good) and, also, if God's nature was such (hypothetically) that genocide and torture were morally commendable, would you think that moral too? In addition, just because God is a certain way, how do you deem that "good"?
T&U
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
- Stephen Roberts
I'm a polyatheist - there are many gods I don't believe in
- Dan Foutes
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has widely been considered as a bad move."
- Douglas Adams
™ Version 4.2