A theological answer to Dawkins (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, October 02, 2013, 17:46 (4070 days ago) @ George Jelliss

http://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2013/10/01/a-response-to-richard-dawkins-n1... Prager is a Jewish commentator-What a pleasure it is to agree with George for a change! This is an astonishingly sanctimonious article. Not only does Dennis Prager ignore the fact that religious views on morality are based on subjective interpretations of God's will, but he even has the arrogance to insist that only the Judeo-Christian interpretation of God's morality counts: "And as the two exceptions were Muslim, they are not relevant to my argument. I am arguing for the God and Bible of Judeo-Christian religions".-He blithely ignores the fact that many slave owners and supporters of apartheid were devout churchgoers who claimed biblical support for their "morality" (notably Noah's curse of Canaan), and the Catholic Church did nothing to prevent the Holocaust (and in recent years did all it could to cover up the rampant child abuse practised by its priests). He also seems to be unaware of the fact that for centuries Christians waged war on non-Christians, and Christian sects waged war on each other.
 
Like Dawkins himself, Prager is clearly a blinkered fundamentalist. Jewish and Christian morality,like that of other moralizing religions, is responsible for lots of "good" and lots of "bad" (depending on our and their subjective definitions of the terms). Atheism does not give a licence to do "bad", since atheists are just as subject to the moral codes of their society and are just as capable of empathy as theists are. -DAVID: I don't follow a religion for my thoughts, although I am of Jewish background. I use science.-I don't know what science has to do with setting up an "objective" moral code. I suspect that like George and myself, you base your morality on the simple humanistic principle of treating others as you wish to be treated yourself. You don't need science or God for that.