The Myth of Christianity and morality

[Big Lin]

The myth of Christianity and morality

________________________________________


Absolute Moral Values

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The aim of this page is to examine the claims of Christians that they have access to absolute moral values by examining one example,murder, in particular.

It is often claimed that the existence of absolute moral values is an indicator that there is a god, as it is claimed that only a god can provide absolute moral values.

Let us look at one moral value in particular, killing.

The Ten Commandments say 'You shall not murder.' Murder is a better translation than killing.

It is agreed by most people that you are sometimes allowed to kill people, for example in self-defence. It is agreed by everybody that you are not allowed to murder people. After all, murder is defined as unjustified killing.

Is this an absolute moral value? It would be if everybody agreed what killings were unjustified. In Britain, killing people by the State is regarded as murder. In the USA, the State is allowed to kill people after due process of law. It is then called capital punishment, not murder.

Almost all countries make a distinction between murder and manslaughter. The United States recognises degrees of murder, although I do not know enough about the American legal system to say what distinguishes first-degree murder from second-degree murder.

Unless we have an absolute standard of murder, the commandment 'you shall not murder' means no more than that it is unjustified to kill people when it is unjustified to kill them.

'You shall not murder' can not be an absolute moral value, unless the Bible states what murder is. Otherwise, man and not God is defining what murder is, and, as we all know, different societies define murder differently.

So how does the Bible define murder? How does the Bible let us distinguish between murder, manslaughter, capital punishment, justified homicide, killing in self-defence, and killing during times of war?

One place where the Bible defines murder is Matthew 5:21-22 'You have heard that it was said to the people long ago 'Do not murder' and that anyone who murders will be subject to judgement. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement.'.

Although these are the words of Jesus, most Christians would be unhappy at seeing them made into the law of the land, so that anybody who is angry with his brother is guilty of murder. Jesus did not intend to equate anger with murder in that sense, so we must look elsewhere for an absolute definition of murder, one which is God's law and not man's.

The only other place I know of where the Bible attempts to distinguish between murder, manslaughter, justified homicide etc is Numbers 35:16-29, which are , according to verse 29, to be legal requirements.

At last we have established an absolute moral value about killing, based on an absolute definition of murder, to be found in Numbers 35:16-29. The only snag is that this passage gives a definition of murder which is impossible for us to accept.

Here are the relevant verses.

16 If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
18 Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
19 The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies
21 or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally
23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,
24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.
25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled
27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
28 The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.
29 These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.
These regulations state clearly that murder is something committed with an iron object, a wooden object, fists, or something thrown etc. Is it really impossible to murder someone by strangling him?

Is it an absolute moral value that non-murderers, ie people guilty of manslaughter, or of carrying out legal executions, are required to stay in specified towns until the high priest dies, or be killed by the avenger of blood?

The Biblical definition of murder take no account of killings in wartime or peacetime. It seems all soldiers are guilty of murder, according to the Bible.

Until people can come up with a better definition of the difference between murder and manslaughter than that given in the Bible, we must conclude that Christians cannot give us an absolute moral value about killing. If such a basic value cannot be made absolute, then how can it be claimed that Christians have access to absolute moral values?

[Big Lin]

This is an article my husband Mike posted on another board.

I'm a Christian and he's an agnostic!