Can we really look to god as the arbiter of morality… as the foundation of it?

What ‘objective truth’ does god actually bring to the table?

Is something ‘good’ because god commands it, or does god command something because it is ‘good’?

Since god is an entity capable of changing its mind, accepting the former means we have to ask the difficult question of what happens when god decides, say, that rape & murder are good and, thus, commands it?

While, to accept the latter is to accept that ‘goodness’ transcends god and, therefore, god cannot be said to be the foundation of objective morality, but rather ‘the messenger’ of this morality. In either of these situations, we are forced to reject the notion of objective morality (through god), because morality is not grounded in anything stable (let alone testable).

And what exactly is moral from the religious standpoint? Whatever scripture commands?

Because, I take it, scripture is the inerrant word of god, right?

… Give or take an interpretation or few.

Or is it scripture and what is dictated by whatever religious leader is in authority within a given place at a given time?

The thing is, there are approximately 10,000 religions (including denominations) in the world today professing the divine guidance of around 100,000 distinct deities.

Who knows how many religions and gods have met their demise through the sands of time.

It is also likely that many people on earth will live and die not even knowing about the existence of another religion or god besides their own.

Who is right? Who got the right god? Who was fortunate enough to receive the good lord’s good word, and who did god neglect?

It’s crazy how geography plays such a major role in the faith that any given people profess at specific points in time.

Sure, Christianity and Islam are widespread, but that’s a clear testament to what a proselytising prick with an army and a sword can do.

You see, we CANNOT solve one mystery by appealing to a greater, more extraordinary, mystery… simply because it purports to explain everything.

Especially when it gets so many facts about reality wrong… and those who do claim to speak for Mr. Mysterious himself, can’t even seem to agree on even the most basic points of contention.

Who are we to believe, when so much is surrendered to faith and everyone has their own interpretation and a literal reading of scripture is abhorrent and science contradicts almost every important point each major religion makes?

And this leaves us in the awfully precarious situation of having to actually wonder what god’s morality is, rather than knowing what it is with absolute certainty.

One would be forgiven, as it seems to be abundantly clear, for assuming that what scripture says is what god says.

But on which text should one rely when trying to forge a deeper connection with the creator of the universe?

Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s clearly one of the Abrahamic faiths and, since Christianity is the most popular (read: was the most successful at shoving itself down the throats of conquered people and places), then Christianity must be the one true religion.

Ok, so it’s settled… we know Christianity is the best thing since sliced bread, but that doesn’t really tell us whether Jesus and daddy dearest are good, or represent ‘goodness’ or signify morality personified.

For that, let’s turn our attention to the good old good book - the best work of literature the world has ever seen - the bible.

The bible must surely have all the answers! God is good because the bible says so, and god inspired the bible, so it must be true. #lookimacircle

And this is where things rapidly turn to… um, let’s just say it’s not a very good look for god.

As Richard Dawkins puts it (and this is paraphrased)… and, also, block your ears kids, cos there’s a lot of naughty words here: "The very notion of the Abrahamic god is arguably the most unpleasant prick in all of fiction; jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic and racist arsehole; an infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent c*nt. An unapologetic piece of sh*t if ever I did find one."

Oh, my… them’s fighting words… Although, not wrong.

We’ve got some of the most barbaric, nonsensical and downright evil acts on display (testaments old and new)… and, not just depictions of egregious cruelty by god’s people and heathens alike… but by the big man himself.

To be honest, and all jokes aside… god is really just evil personified.

A fictional character used by insecure people to justify their hate, bigotry, misogyny, [insert any number of unpleasant descriptors of a person here].

God has nothing to say about morality… not really. God doesn't even solve the problem of evil, he just makes it so, SO much worse.

Just watch this short clip by Sam Harris, which sums it up quite nicely here:

And the unique Problem of Evil discussed by CosmicSkeptic here:

Or Matt Dillahunty on morality here:

Should I go on?

“Religion allows perfectly sane and decent people to believe, by the billions, what only lunatics would believe on their own”… “if there is a less moral ‘moral framework’ than [that of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.], then I haven't heard of it” Sam Harris

If we are honestly expected to believe that god is the epitome of morality… then, holy crap, god help us all.