#atheism discussed

[gearsmoke]

Without god, morality can have an objective basis.  Don’t believe anyone who tries to gaslight you about that.

[gearsmoke]

A response to a theist who asked about secular morality.

Without a higher authority to dictate the rules, we become entirely responsible for our own morality.  We have an instinctive concept of right and wrong that is similar to that of many social animals - right is that which benefits the group, wrong is that which is a detriment.  But we also have conflicting urges to do that which benefits ourselves as individuals over the group - which is understandable as social conscience came to our ancestors far after self-interest. So if we're responsible for our own morality, we decide what we consider important in a moral system.  Once we've laid out the fundamental (Yes I'm using that word) values we want to uphold as a society, we then have an objective goal against which we can measure moral choices. And yes, sometimes the things one group has decided are important moral goals are different from what another group has chosen, and problems arise.  However, I have to point out that as humanity learns and progresses, those differences in goals are shrinking.  More and more, we are agreeing that the same things are important - things like health, happiness, freedom, equality, and fairness. And why should we care about those things?  Why should we favor them above any other?  Because humanity benefits from them.  All humans benefit from a system that is geared towards maximizing their own well-being.  It is, ultimately, a selfish goal - it is why doing good things for other people feels good - our brain rewards us for doing things that benefit our own species and therefore ourselves. I imagine other gregarious animals get a little chemical reward for performing pro-social actions as well.  Wolves and meerkats and horses all have certain rules that they follow and enforce because they could not survive without them.  And sometimes those rules are things we'd consider immoral, because animals don't have any concept of ethos, they just follow instincts.  I don't think there's a higher power who instructs male lions to eat the young of their competition.  Nor who tells us it's bad to hurt other people.