What guides us morally?

Question

Theism has failed as people have died as a result of Theist conflict.

Since the Enlightenment we have seen Pol Pot, Hitler (Catholic in name but race before faith) Stalin, Mao.

So what confidence do you have that generational inheritence of goodness, peace and love will happen.

Answer 1

The Virgin Mary can offer us moral guidance.  Pray to her under the title Our Lady of Good Counsel.  She is an excellent role model and the perfect disciple of Jesus Christ.

God bless!

Dave

Answer 2

Conflict seems to be Humanities lot.

The outer conflicts are just the collective results of all our inner conflicts.

Pain and suffering sometimes bring us to joy and bliss.  (never thought I would believe anything like that:))  but that has been my experience )

Just do what your higher self says and you will be Happy.

Answer 3

Do not blame bad moral application by fallible humans on good morality.

• Law •

Law is a rule of conduct established by competent authority for the common good.

In biblical terms, the moral law is the fatherly instruction of God, setting forth the ways which lead to happiness and proscribing those which lead to evil.

• Justice •

Justice is quality of being just; fairness.  

In religious terms, justice is a moral virtue which consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and to neighbor.

• Law and Justice •

Justice is the administration of the Law. Justice is meted out very unevenly in this world.

However, the divine moral Law is universal.

In biblical terms, the moral law is the fatherly instruction of God, setting forth the ways which lead to happiness and proscribing those which lead to evil.

The divine moral law can be either natural or revealed.

Natural moral law is inscribed in the human heart, and known by human reason.

Revealed moral law is found in the ancient law (Old Testament), notably the ten commandments, and in the new law (the Gospels), the teaching of Christ, notably the Sermon on the Mount, which perfects the ancient law.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 1950-1974: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3s...

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

Freedom of thought i'd say. pol pot, hitler Salin ect.. only became powerful because they had followers. freethinkers are less apt to be herded. This is just an untested hypothesis of course.

Answer 5

I have no illusions that we can inherit morality.  We start as a clean slate.  Some people are raised with a morality based on religion, some choose their morality based on logic.  Neither has a monopoly on it.

Answer 6

I don't have any real confidence other than the hope that mankind will retreat from the brink by drawing on his capacity to reason and to strive for common good.

But if we don't, the earth doesn't particularly care if we are on it or not. We have rats, cockroaches, fish, all kinds of creatures who are content on earth and don't need to destroy it.

it could be that human intelligence, and human consciousness, is not all that good an idea in terms of evolution. it could be an evolutionary dead end. After all, life has been around for billions of years, but we only here for a few million.

Answer 7

The Po-lice???

Answer 8

God set the morals and gave the laws.  Without the Laws of God man would not know sin.  Every man would be doing what he thinks is right in his own eyes and when this happens history has proved that man self destructs.

Answer 9

I would hope mankind would be guided in ethics by reason and a sound understanding of Nature and ourselves. That, however, is not the case, and the basis for most of our ethics is stupidity and superstition and bad science and the whimsy and caprice of the idiots that run the governments and religions of the World.

In case you were wondering, God has a logic behind his ethics.

It is "Might Makes Right".

"I can do any bloody d**n thing I want and you must call it 'righteousness' and can't do a thing about it, else I'll chuck you into hellfire."

"I'm bigger and stronger and meaner than you, so I get to make the rules, and your job is not to think but to obey!"

It's about time God adopted some reason behind his ethics too.

Answer 10

Love of self.

Answer 11

As religion fades, so will our societies intolerance. We'll bond together as human beings one day. We'll be forced to. Look how much immigration there is today, how small the world is becoming. We'll have to find a way to get along. This would be far easier without theocracies getting in the way.

Christians morals don't really exist. Ten commandments say thou shalt not kill yet how many died at the hands of the Israelites? How many died because of the Ark of the Covenant? Merely touching it warranted death. God tests and teases all he wants, jesus used violence on money lenders and cursed at Pharisee's, but their god so people excuse it. How can morality come from anyone who can believe this. Regardless of reasons, if gods not held to the same standards who holds us to how can he be perfect? How can a non-perfect being judged another? Pure power. Might is right for christians.

Answer 12

Huh...  a little too cerebral here I think.  But anyway..

I think bottom line what guides anyone morally is a couple of things.

1) our upbringing

2) our hearts

3) our nature or tendencies

4) our experiences

5) our consciences (or the HolyGhost)

Put em together and what have you got?  OUR individual morality.

Answer 13

My super duper, rechargeable Coleman flashlight

Answer 14

Duct tape holds it all together.. It is our guide.

Answer 15

That's dependent on your situation. Your place, the people you are around, the culture you are surrounded in, etc.,.. It's not a little piece of paper that everyone gets a copy of, morals are subjective because in a free society(which we live in) you are free to make your own decisions based on your own morals. Granted there are consequences, but you still get to choose your own morals and actions.

Answer 16

"Theism has failed...."

Hmmmm...

Why do you say that? (By the way, what is your source, if I may inquire?)

Perhaps, sans God,  things could have been 1,000 times worst?

We are guided by virtues - specifically Christian virtues.

Hope that helps.

All the best.