What proof do you have that removing moral power out of the hands of humanity will improve things? Such a thing has never happened.
What proof do you have that morality is not a human owned concept?
I believe that humans have the faculties to handle things like morality, but we are not always good stewards of such things. Concepts like a constitution or a bill of rights act to remove, in part, the power of human control so as to safeguard our shared values, taking them out of the reach of those who might abuse them. In a broader sense, the nature of good and evil can be rendered meaningless if its human authors desire to do so. This is why I view morality as something humans have stewardship over, but not ownership.
You might think of morality like civilization itself. Humans have built some incredible things and civilizations exist because everyone pays into it by doing their part on behalf of the collective values, but humans cannot claim responsibility for the raw materials we all take for granted. We cannot claim ownership of the earth as if we invented it, likewise, we cannot claim ownership of good and evil as if we created them for the purpose of regulating social behavior. Either our social behavior is built on a foundation of morality or morality is built on a foundation of social behavior. If morality is something we align ourselves with, I would say the former is true and morality is not ours to shape. If we align morality with ourselves, then the latter is true and we can claim authority over it.
Greater than humanity? By whose standard? I know of no moral being that humanity has determined to be greater than we are; do you?
Humanity is quite good at elevating itself to Godhood in our imagination. Maybe it's because we recognize some sort of hierarchical standard of values that we fall short of.
Aren’t those just empty words without enforcement? What’s to prevent me from proclaiming myself the moral authority and all who disagree illegitimate? How is this different?
Those would be empty words without enforcement. Presumably the authority, the "author", would have the credentials to justify such a claim.
But we do judge those things. As humans we judge everything.
This is true, but my point was not to claim that humans are incapable of judging what is or is not divine, but rather that human judgement cannot make something divine. Divinity is not at the mercy of human judgement, therefore if anyone disagrees that something is divine, it is not humans who have the last word, it is the divine itself.
What’s wrong with the term compel? If the God you worshipped communicated with me in a way I could understand and convince me he is morally superior to me, I may be compelled to respect your God as my moral authority. However as it is, I have no communication with your God only with people like you who have no credibility in my view.
Respect out of compulsion can imply a relationship that is not based on respect at all but upon the lack of another option. God wants you to respect Him because you want to not because you have to or because of purely intellectual reasons. As far as your lack of communication with God, I am trying to communicate with you in a way you would understand, but I don't know you or how you think. So, I am trying to understand your perspective. Are you doing the same in regards to me? Perhaps God values inquiry on your part, like a desire to understand Him. Like I mentioned, the God I worship does not compel respect, but He will put in the leg work if we make an effort.
If I have no way to communicate with your God, how am I supposed to know how he acts? The only thing I see are people with obvious agendas and no credibility who claim he acts this way or that way; no actual proof of how he acts.
When I wish to communicate with God I put myself in a position to listen. I read His word in order to find out who He is, what He has done, and how He acts. If your claim is that this record is not credible, show me where.
Again; without enforcement, or communication I see no way it could possibly have governance over us. Do you? If so; how?
I wouldn't expect God to show His governance over you because perhaps you are governed by something else. I have willingly placed myself under His governance, and like a seed will sprout and grow and eventually produce fruit, I expect that if His governance is real, then I should see the fruit manifest in my life.
