If There Is No God, Murder Isn’t Wrong
If there is no God, murder isn’t wrong. You may think it’s wrong, but how do you know it’s wrong? As Dennis Prager explains, without God, all morality is mere opinion.
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Script:
Do you believe that good and evil exist?
The answer to this question separates Judeo-Christian values from secular values.
Let me offer the clearest possible example: murder.
Is murder wrong? Is it evil? Nearly everyone would answer yes. But now I’ll pose a much harder question: How do you know?
I am sure that you think that murder is wrong. But how do you know?
If I asked you how you know that that the earth is round, you would show me photographs from outer space, or offer me measurable data. But what photographs could you show, what measurements could you provide, that prove that murder or rape or theft is wrong?
The fact is…you can’t. There are scientific facts, but without God there are no moral facts.
In a secular world, there can only be opinions about morality. They may be personal opinions or society’s opinion. But only opinions. Every atheist philosopher I have read or debated on this subject has acknowledged that if there is no God, there is no objective morality.
Judeo-Christian values are predicated on the existence of a God of morality. In other words, only if there is a God who says murder is wrong, is murder wrong. Otherwise, all morality is opinion.
The entire Western world – what we call Western Civilization – is based on this understanding.
Now, let me make two things clear.
First, this doesn’t mean that if you don’t believe in God, you can’t be a good person. There are plenty of kind and moral individuals who don’t believe in God and Judeo-Christian values. But the existence of these good people has nothing – nothing – to do with the question of whether good and evil really exist if there is no God.
Second, there have been plenty of people who believed in God who were not good people; indeed, more than a few have been evil – and have even committed evil in God’s name. The existence of God doesn’t ensure people will do good. I wish it did. The existence of God only ensures that good and evil objectively exist and are not merely opinions.
Without God, we therefore end up with what is known as moral relativism – meaning that morality is not absolute, but only relative to the individual or to the society. Without God, the words “good” and “evil” are just another way of saying “I like” and “I don’t like.” If there is no God, the statement “Murder is evil” is the same as the statement “I don’t like murder.”
Now, many will argue that you don’t need moral absolutes; people won’t murder because they don’t want to be murdered. But that argument is just wishful thinking. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao didn’t want to be murdered, but that hardly stopped them from murdering about a hundred million people.
It is not a coincidence that the rejection of Judeo-Christian values in the Western world – by Nazism and Communism – led to the murder of all these innocent people.
It is also not a coincidence that the first societies in the world to abolish slavery – an institution that existed in every known society in human history – were Western societies rooted in Judeo-Christian values. And so were the first societies to affirm universal human rights; to emancipate women; and to proclaim the value of liberty.
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/if-there-no-god-murder-isnt-wrong
source
God killed millions of people, and made a bet torturing one of his most loyal servants so does this mean that if God said to every human murder is acceptable it’d be okay?
God doesn't like murder execpt when he does it ( when he wipes out entire civilizations from the face of the earth ) . If we use this argument then that means that god is a hypocrite. Hypocrites are immoral so therefore God is immoral. How can anyone ,with average crotical thinking skills , think that such a flawed man-made invention be the source of all objective morality is frightening to me . When I was a theist I never needed to be reminded that god existed to know that something like murder was morally wrong .
0:11 I am an atheist with secular values and i believe that good and evil exist, as those terms describe behaviour related to personal well being. When your actions improve the wellbeing of others it's good, if it decreases it it was bad. And the more people affected the stronger. So i might decrease the well being of one person by kicking him in the balls but improve the well being of multiple people in the process by resuing the woman that was about to get raped and robbed. If you take wellbeing as the foundation for morality you don't need a god.
0:33 Murder is not always wrong, especially when you save other people's lives. Killing Hitler would be murder. But it wouldn't be wrong because that would end his terror regime.
0:41 You can't compare the shape of the earth with how to know if murder is wrong.
1:12 That's also true in a theistic society. It's alwys an opinion, because morality is our opinion about an action. It can never be objective. If a god exists, his morality is also subjective.
1:21 No. As an atheist i say objective morality must be without a god, and as long as there is a god necessary morality is subjective. Objective = outside of mind, subjective inside of mind. Objective morality would exist naturally and god could do anything about it. That makes him not omnipotent and therefore isn't the god christians worship.
3:05 No. Moral relativism is everywhere. We all use it. I have other ideas of right and wrong that you do. It is relative. It depends on the society and education. Killing witches was seen as right. We now know that it was wrong. If morality was objective it would never change.
3:35 Hitler and the Nazis were theists. 94% of Germany was christian and Hitler used Christian values to drive his agenda. He himself was pantheistic.
3:51 That society, the USA is not rooted in Judaeo Christian values, but in atheistic secular values. It is a christian value to use slaves. The bible contains a manual how to treat, get and bound slaves forever. It even says how slaves should behave.
4:40 Source? I bet it is about something else.
Most animals don't just straight up merc others without a reason — strained resources or eliminating competition for mating/territory are the big ones. Humans are the ones who debate if animals have souls, or kill for abstractions rather than concrete needs. And cling to abstractions as a reason to be "good". Really, what's good for me is terrible for the cow on my plate. So even if God exists and is "good" by our understanding, what's good for God's view isn't necessarily good for us.
Of course murder is wrong! What a silly ridiculous religious dogmatic thing to suggest! The Golden Rule is in effect, you don't go around murdering others as you wouldn't want someone to go around looking to murder you. We as a society, decided it's wrong, and punishable by the law if you are found convicted of the act.
Fact is, the immoral god of the Bible is a murderer, and he's proud of it. He wants to murder anyone he hates. He's not good – he was never good.
Have you ever heard of basic human morlas
Apparently the only valid reason murder is wrong is because god says so. According to Prageru causing harm isn’t bad if god does not exist.
This is so wrong.
Lots of dumb people out there.
The same reasoning you use to demonstrate how we don't know murder is wrong is exactly how the atheist sees YOU when you jump to the existence of God and your inevitable faith.
Is murder wrong?
Yes
How do you know?
If I ask if the world was round then you'd show me a picture from space or measurements and data.
But what evidence or measurable data is there to PROVE that murder, rape or theft is wrong?
Well the fact is, YOU CANT.
So? Does God exist?
Yes.
How do you know?
If I ask if the world was round then you'd show ma picture from space or measurements and data.
But what evidence or measurable data is there to PROVE that God exist?
Well the fact is, YOU CANT.
Murder was illegal in most civilizations before Christianity ever was thought of
I can’t tell if this title is ironic or not
If you need a deity to NOT murder. Then you don't deserve a deity to begin with.
His argument about Moral Reletavism, and the "without a god who is the source of morality, morality is just an opinion." Dude, that's the point….. 💀Morality IS just an opinion.
Hitler was catholic
There is no commandments against rape or owning slaves.
THERE'S NO GOD WHEN WE DIE THAT'S THE END, WE ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN A DEAD DOG
This is absolutely terrible logic. I don't kill because it's wrong. This channel should be reported…
my biggest problem with this topic is that the MORALS of human beings change and still people try to justify evils in name of god,
i some days back asked a man (muslim) that why do islamists ki!! those who leaves their religion, his response was that that GOD commands it,
this is the problem with religious people, you just cannot argue with them stuck in the old ways, at the end of the day it is the morale that comes from inside your brain that justifies things, and if it is hampered by so called god then better new morals cannot be justified
The Qur’an says murder is OK if the victim is not Muslim or anyone that violates the Qur’an. Qur’an 2:191 & 9:5 & ect. Ect. Ect.
Better video idea, "if god didn't exist, would people give a shit if murder was wrong?"
This is a prime example of why there are so many YTPs of Prager
What's wrong with your video:
1 – Human Beings don't need authority from a God to love or help others.
2 – Hitler always talked and used God as a answer and justification for his acts or beliefs, his political campaigns and his governament was christian and his german army belt said ''God With Us''
3 – Slavery didn't end because of christianity, it was forced and continued by it, and the people against also used the Bible just like the Slave Owners.
4 – Woman getting equal pay or rights was by Secular thinking or thinkers, not by christians or religious people and they didn't have for centuries because of christian dictators.
5 – Christianity also caused tons of genocide and also it caused the opposite of ''liberty'' for hundreds of years
You do not need religion to have morality. Morality is just distinction between right and wrong. Right and wrong can be decided by a person, group, society or even a religion(group). Morality is just a choice to agree to a set understanding of right and wrong. BTW I am pro religion. But this was just plain silly.
Judeo-Christian values still aren't "objective." They're Christian values, not objective values.
Do you need an invisible man to tell you not to kill people?
So I guess slavery is okay then? No religion is against it
How is this not an Onion video?
Communism: killed 100 million people!
Abortion: over 60 million babies slaughtered at the behest of a doctor and mothers approval.
Modern day sex trafficking occurring(definitely don’t believe in god)
Pornography: objectifying millions of women and destroying the brains and marriages of men.
Communist China today: persecuting and killing.(devout atheist regime) oppressing.
Modern day sex slavery: Definitely not people who believe in god.
All the school shooters in the us: definitely don’t believe in god.
Name me one Christian terrorist on the top of your head. You’ll have to Google it and you’ll definitely find one but the simple fact that you can’t name one on the top of your head proves that those were lone wolfs who no actual Christian supported.
All of those things were done by people who don’t believe in god and follow Jesus.
Not every religion is right!
Jesus is the path! Follow him!
You don’t have to be perfect! We are all sinners. You have the chance to repent! Conversion is a daily thing. You sin, fall, get back up!
The Bible is definitely not a good source for moral behaviour. It condones slavery, incest and many other lesser crimes. Any reasonable person has no difficulty in establishing for themselves what is right and wrong. You don't need any of the 3000 or so gods that people worship in order to do that.
Question, what did Adam & Eve go by? Especially after the fall in the garden of Eden.
It’s pretty obvious that Dennis Prager believes in moral relativism. If he didn’t, then he’d be criticizing the IDF for killing 2,000 children.
You don't need God to gain empathy
I agree with what was said here, but I, as an athiest, do believe that morals are subjective, that includes stuff like murder without a valid reason, which I am subjectivelly against, but I'd argue that even if god did exist that saying his idea of morals must be objectivelly right is a logical fallacy (appeal to authority), not to say I disagree with those morals, just that even if god exists and tells us his view of them, that it's still subjective
The left have dropped all illusions regarding morality. On October 7, 2023 they made their claim that beheading babies, kidnapping and murdering civilians burning them alive… is for them “moral”.
They have demonstrated that they are truly satanic demons
Prager FU indulges in the practice of "LYING FOR JESUS".
Humans decided Long Long before their imaginary friend was invented that MURDER WAS WRONG. It's called EMPATHY. We EVOLVED WITH IT.
This Channel peddle LIES and HATE.
Dennis Prager is a Zionist and loves the killing of Godly people in Palestine. He is Pro-Israel and of arming Israeli students. His ultra conservative values are not Judeo-Christian values, since he supports murder and hates his neighbors that are Islamic. You cannot love God and support genocide. Also another fact not mentioned is that Slavery ended because the north wanted to arm slaves to help them win the civil war. The north was actually scared to end slavery because they thought the slaves would try to kill them and revolt once free.
You have one huge disinformation in this video. Hitler actually used a lot of his Catholic values to create his state and reasons to kill Jews. So sorry, it wasn’t a lack of Judeo-Christian values. It was actually using religion to create a war and the belief that Aryan Catholic people were above everyone else.
In the book of Genesis God kills almost all of mankind in the story of the Flood. Was it wrong of God to do this? Isn't that murder?
The shackles of slavery were thrown off by classical-liberalism, not "Judeo-Christian" values. Slavery had existed for millennia under "Judeo-Christian" values.
Dependency on a subjective "god" as proof of "objective" morality is logically inconsistent.
Murder is wrong as it is self-evident that it is wrong. Like the Founding Fathers indicated that things could be self-evident. They referenced a creator although the creator isn't needed for this since murder is self-evident that it's wrong. It's also self-evident that torture is wrong. With middle-eastern Gods, torture is just fine and God decides to do it forever. It is self-evident that it is evil.
Notice how his final words were about how you should live in fear (without christianity). Once again religion preying on the fears of people to follow them instead of just researching to find facts and truth.
If you believe in reincarnation, why is there murder?
"If There Is No God, Murder Isn't Wrong"
Agreed. There is only expediency and advantage. Humans are just chemicals; chemicals cannot be "wrong".
G-d says that no one is righteous.
A good argument for why we need God whether he exists or not.
What you said, I understand. The fundamental of evils leads to murders, as having no money, no love, or no good, or not understanding the good of humans, people, and those who have an understanding of happiness always reject self murders or murders others as they do not want to be killed. murders become options as collective knowledge Human society has murderers as we blame ourselves, and other theories of necessary evils to end violent evils, as the acts to destroy enemies, murders allowed to solve problems.
Nah without god, murder is still wrong. You do not need god to be a good person. Lots of people have god and are actually very crappy people. Assumption is that there is a god, how do you know? You can't show me pictures, there is no physical evidence, so how do you know? You can't, so there can't be an objective morality. Same arguments as Prager uses, can be used for god.
This was a video that confused me the first time I saw it, a few years ago. It makes perfect sense now. If I ask "is murder wrong?", almost anyone will say yes. At the time I first watched this, I thought if I asked "Is it wrong for a man to dress as a woman and hump another man in front of a child?", the answer would be "absolutely!". Over the years, I have learned that if there is no rock solid moral base, the powers that be can manipulate societal morals to mean whatever they want them to mean. A static, unchanging moral base can't exist without God! I understand the video now!