“Isn't it more logical and reasonable to say that your conscience is put there by society--that your parents, neighbors, teachers, and authority figures (police, elected officials, preachers, and others) all play a role in forming your morality as you grow from infant to adult? This is a more sensible explanation, because it explains why different cultures have slightly different moralities.” David W. Irish
David, it is interesting the every culture has a sense of morality, and that no matter how “primitive” they are, they acknowledge some sort of Creator. I am not aware of any past culture that has been found to be atheistic.
However, let’s say that you are right--that it is society and not God that entirely shapes the human conscience. Let’s imagine that a man has been rescued by authorities after 20 years of being raised by wolves. He is found to be intelligent and completely sane, but has had no moral instruction from any human being in those 20 years.
He is cleaned up, given a nice suit, and taken to New York where he is overawed by what he sees. He is still given no moral instruction. When he is left alone, the first thing he does is find a pretty young woman. He rapes and murders her, then he steals her money and is captured while spending it.
In court, his attorney’s defense is that he didn’t know right from wrong--society had given him no moral instruction. Is the judge going to let him go? Of course not, because although the human conscience may be influenced by society, etc., it is not given to us by society. It is given to us by God, so that every sane human being intuitively knows right from wrong. That's why we will all be without excuse on the Day of Judgment.
There is a reason every culture acknowledges God. It's because the knowledge of His existence is manifest through the conscience, as well as through creation:
“ . . . because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:19-21).
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
