DARK-
“What is fuzzy about the expression “emerged over thousands of years of human behavior”? It is rather juvenile to think that our entire morality just popped into existence in one person. Our political system, our sciences, our art, our civilization didn’t just happen all at once, so what is so confusing about the idea that as humans gradually moved from tribal to community cohabitation that certain attitudes and behaviors would develop?”
Fuzzy is ‘emerged’. Fuzzy is that you are attempting to relate science and art and pol systems and civilizations - every one of which can be touched and seen and developed over time out of the imagination of our minds.
Morality (knowledge of good and evil) emerging from wild ape-dom in a single ‘animal’ set is not and cannot be related to the items you list here.
No, I’m not literally asking you to name the person who came up with morality. You are missing the intent. You are saying morality emerged from wild animal ape-dom and has ‘evolved’ to what it is today.
You jumped out on me by saying ‘our entire morality popped into existence in one person’. No, I didn’t say that. I said that it didn’t come from no where. It had to start in someone somewhere and in fact, someone did have to start that ball rolling at some point. It didn’t happen randomly, simultaneously all over the place either.
In the same way the elements that make up this universe didn’t come from just no where, neither did morality. Are you going to say the universal elements emerged over time from nothing too?
“Your mistake, I think, is refusing to budge from your rather odd idea that the ONLY conceivable origin of morality is if one single human was given the idea as a gift from above.”
You hit the nail on the head. Except that it is not a mistake and really not so odd when there are millions who believe precisely that morality did ‘come from above’. The mistake that I hope you don’t find ‘odd’ later on is in those whose pride and intelligence exceeds the gift offered to all who will choose the gift.
Here it is in all its fundamentality:
Adam and Eve made a choice and ate of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Yes, then...the knowledge of good and evil did drop right out of the sky because God made it so. Don’t forget that it was their choice.
You....are not willing to believe (so far in your life) that God had man write these things, let alone that those things written in the Bible are even remotely true.
It is truly simple. You either believe it, or you don’t.
And I’m not forcing anything on you. You hang here an aweful lot. The choice is and has always been yours in what you will believe. All I want you to do is be exposed to maybe one thought you haven’t considered in life’s quest for knowledge.
None of this has any relevance to my acceptance or unwillingness to hear alternative views that you keep bringing up.
There is truth and there is everything else. Bible based faith for the believer is truth. If God does exist - uh yes he does - then nothing you or I believe will change his plan. We either accept his plan out of love for the truth and his son or not. The choice for us is what are we doing with our brief lives?
If I take the standpoint that I believe in all God says he is and does - what have I to lose for placing my faith in him? What is so valuable about this life that so many are willing to ignore a gift from God?
It all seems silly? What will you do when you find out is isn’t silly?
I never once said anything about apes or apedom.
It's impossible to have a rational discussion with someone who refuses to respond to what I WROTE and insists, repeatedly, on telling ME what *I* said, and then asking me to back up HIS twisting of my words.
So your big "evidence" is that "millions believe it".
By that "logic," since Islam is now the most popular religion on the planet, you'll be converting any day now. How could billions be wrong?
People who use popularity as their ultimate go-to for their beliefs have no logic or facts to stand on, only emotion.