… These are the eternal, immutable laws of good and evil, to which the creator himself conforms. Such among others are these principles: that we should live honestly, should hurt nobody, and should render to every one his due.Current science is attempting to apply Methodological Naturalism to all aspects of humanity. This removes from society; good and evil, right and wrong – and introduces relative morality.As the creator is a being, not only of infinite power, and wisdom, but also of infinite goodness, he has been pleased so to contrive the constitution of humanity, that we should want no other prompter to pursue the rule of right, but our own self-love. For he has so intimately connected the laws of eternal justice with the happiness of each individual, that the latter cannot be attained but by observing the former. This is the foundation of what we call ethics, or natural law.
- William Blackstone
As you point out, Barash states “ Moreover, no literally supernatural trait has ever been found in Homo sapiens..." I believe that human consciousness and conscience is ‘supernatural’ and cannot only be electro-chemical reactions merely following the laws of physics. We could not be held responsible for our actions otherwise.
I agree with all you posted except a quibble over your term “methodological naturalism”. That is a very specific term which simply means: for purposes of scientific inquiry, we will set aside everything except natural explanations for natural processes.
But if you then push further to proclaim “there exists nothing except naturalism”, that is no longer “methodolical” and has now morphed into “metaphysical” or “philosophical” naturalism.
In the Age of Enlightenment of our Founding Fathers, the proper definition of “methodological” was well understood, and the idea of “metaphysical” naturalism considered impossible.