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You are correct in saying that morality is a preference or opinion without an external source of authority (you specifically mention a God). It’s just human nature - as I said, I personally don’t believe in a strict, laid-out right and wrong, as those words hold different meaning to groups of people. This will inevitably mean we all have different moral outlooks - that’s the nature of life. Not everyone will agree, and I don’t think that turning to a universal source of authority just to eradicate this is a good idea.
And you are further correct in saying that people think that their view on right and wrong is the correct one. In fact, most of religion is based around this - that your god is ultimately the only correct one, and what they say is the objective truth. But the issue is that a lot of people believe their way of right and wrong (religious or not) is correct. I personally do not - as explained above, everyone has a different view, and I believe that a large part of what is right for me is to understand that this is the case. Or in simpler terms, a large part of (my way of knowing for myself) what is right/wrong is actually understanding what others think is right and wrong.
I’d also like to add that naturally most of our morality comes from evolution and human nature. Like other members of the Hominidae family, we have evolved to be social creatures, and in turn we’ve biologically adapted to survive around other people - sharing food, being in families, keeping each other safe, etc. . This inherently forms the basis of our (as a species) morality, and really, anything that is added on to those core principles (whether by a religion/god or just personal preference) is based on the ever-changing society we live in. As a species, there are core morals that we have learnt to follow over thousands of years, which will always remain the same despite your background or the times we live in. So you could argue that those are the “objectively correct” moral values, and anything above that is just personal preference (or in your case, your preference in listening to what a god has to tell you)
I can’t really reply to the last paragraph - I don’t believe or follow a god, and don’t see a god as a source of authority to me, and the reasons for why that is are unrelated and I won’t go into them. I can say that I believe there to be no real “truth” for everything (in fact I don’t understand in this case what truth even refers to). For me, there are also multiple meanings for life, not one of which is more important than the other, and in all honesty none of them matter in the slightest because it doesn’t change the fact we’re all here, living the lives that we have. But yeah - a large common theme throughout these kinds of debates is that you use your beliefs in a god as the only basis for your point, which I understand why you do that, but it makes it difficult to form my point, as I do not treat any god as any sort of authority.
I do suggest you watch the video at the start - it’s only 3 minutes but it explains what I’m trying to say better than I ever could.
First of all, I do not think anyone needs to believe in God to have moral values. It is clear that many people have moral values regardless on if they believe in a higher being. I also am not saying that everyone gives God authority over their life and morals specifically.
Morality, in its nature is objective, as morality states there is a right and wrong way to do things (which is objective). However, morality is just a preference/opinion without God. Reason being: God has the innate authority to dictate right or wrong, we humans do not have innate authority to enforce our opinions (including morality if it is an opinion) onto eachother.
Opinions are preferences to each individual person and are subjective. Preferences are not hard fact or truth. Therefore, if right and wrong is not objectively true, then why do people act as though they have the authority to enforce subjective (non-factual "truths") preferences on what is right or wrong? Even someone saying you are kind has no merit because it is merely imprinting an unjustified opinion onto you (I am not trying to disrespect the people who told that to you)
Barely anybody lives like what I stated above. Most people act as though their subjective preferences are objective preferences. Which means plenty of people are lying to themselves and people are generally fine with that. But if anyone wants to find truth, then look to God, who is truth. God gives objective morality and meaning in life, and doesn't lie to you, compared to ourselves which we force our own preferences of what give us meaning and morality in life.
Were you saying that according to your personal morals, making yourself and others happy is the right way for you to live?
I spent over 2 hours trying to write this and I was occupied with other stuff, so please forgive me if I talk incoherently or made mistakes (I'll try to fix it in around 11 hours or so but we'll see). I also genuinely appreciate your willingness to have a civilized conversation, as that is what I was hoping for. If my reasoning absolutely sucks, please let me know.
Also you miss the point that I don’t see god or religion as any source of authority so idrc if what I do to make myself/others happy goes against his “objectively correct” values. If god doesn’t like it, sucks to be god ig.
If you want to discuss this with me further (I am more than willing to listen and respectfully discuss this with you) please DM me, as I am going to sleep soon (or I will reply in the morning here). I haven’t formulated my point as well as I want to because I am doing other things right now, but I’m sure we both have more we’d like to add.