I've been thinking about this, and maybe someone here can clear this up for me? None of this is intended to be insulting, so please don't take it that way, it's just some random thoughts I've been having and wanted to lay it out and hopefully get it cleared up, so I understand where people who believe this stuff are coming from.
So when christians talk about absolute morality, they seem to be referring to morality laid down by god. So he is the absolute source of morality, and tells us what is moral and what is not. Sometimes the bible is used as the source of morality, sometimes it's god, but the bible is the word of god so maybe it's the same thing. I'm a bit confused right away, but let's assume that morality comes from god for the point of this discussion.
I don't understand how they actually thinks this works. The issue I have is how do we know what is actually moral and what is actually not? God tells us, right? But how does God communicate this with us? I guess it either has to be him talking to us directly or through the bible?
I mean the bible seems an obvious answer, but the bible is pretty contradictory and open to interpretation. It's virtually impossible to get 2 christians to agree on every single aspect of the bible, and everyone seems to interpret it differently, whether they are christian or not. That's part of the reason there's so many subsets of christians that all believe quite different things. So if that's the moral code, but everyone is interpreting it differently that's not very absolute is it? And the bible is not exactly clear.
Let's take something simple, like murder. 'Thou shalt not kill'. Seems pretty straightforward. But then god has no problem killing himself. But maybe it's a 'do as I say and not as I do' type thing, which is fine. So he's not a moral example for us, we don't follow his examples, we just do what he says. But several times in the bible he tells people to kill other people. Sometimes he kills people himself, but he's god so he can do whatever he wants. But sometimes he tells people to kill other people, and they do, which then must be fine - because god told them to. So it's now 'don't kill ... unless god tells you to, then it's ok'. Right, got that so far.
So if someone today is told by god that they should kill someone, then is that ok? It's ok in the bible, so does that make it ok for us today? If it was, how would we tell who has genuinely received orders to kill from god, who is using it as an excuse and who is just crazy? How do we tell who it's ok for and who it's not ok for? Well, it's not ok for anyone according to our legal systems. But apparently it IS ok to kill someone in self defence, according to those same legal systems. But I don't see that mentioned in the 10 commandments. So is self defence not ok? Or is there another part of the bible that makes it ok? I'm not sure, but I am sure about how passionate some right wing christians in the USA are about gun laws. They don't seem to see killing in self defence as immoral, but is that backed up by clear scripture or just an interpretation thing? I mean you think it would make sense to put it right in the 10 commandments, if there's exceptions to these commandments? So, as far as I can tell killing in self defence is immoral in the bible (unless god tells you to do it) but legal in most countries. But then again laws and morality are two different things. Most people agree adultery is immoral, but it's not illegal (in most countries). What IS legal, in some parts of the USA is to kill some criminals. And funnily enough the more christian states like Texas tend to be those states. But in the bible there are many examples of old laws where death (carried out by people, not god) is prescribed for things like homosexuality and children disrespecting their parents. So maybe that makes it ok, or maybe those are old laws that don't apply anymore? 'An eye for an eye' is sometimes quoted as justification. So that part overrides the 10 commandments? Does that also mean that we should rape the rapists in jail too? But I digress.
Right, so where are we now? I still am not clear what the 'absolute' moral position is on killing, something that should be quite cut and dry. The best I can figure it with my laymans understanding of the bible is that killing is ok for god to do, cause he's god, but not ok for us, unless god tells us to, even though that's not ok by law in most countries, and the 10 commandments (where we get our killing instructions) don't say anything killing in self defence or capital punishment being ok, but other parts of the bible seem to imply it's ok, if you feel those parts overrule the 10 commandments. Right.
And what about more complex things? Like slavery or video piracy? How does this christian absolute moral code apply to these things?
Ok, I'm done trying to figure it out. Can someone explain it for me please? I don't hold any of these views, but I was trying to understand where those on the other side are coming from, but I can't make head nor tail of it.
It's totally possible, in fact probable, that there's some holes in my logic and/or a misunderstanding of the bible or 2 thrown in there for good measure, so if anyone can help me clear that up I'd genuinely appreciate it.