Gary: Morality is simply the rules of behavior imposed by your “herd” (society, nation).

Conservative disciple of Yahweh (Christian): From a purely atheistic, materialistic, Darwinian standpoint, why should the Nazis have cared (they actually didn’t) about “the rules of behavior of the larger herd (the world community).” The (atheist) Hitler would’ve argued to you that he was only doing what he needed to do to preserve *his* herd (the Aryan German Volk). If atheism is true and there’s no divine Moral Law to appeal to, you can’t fault Hitler and the Nazis for violating “rules of behavior of the larger herd (world community).” You can either have your cake or eat it here, but you can’t have it *and* eat it. If there’s no Moral Law nothing is *really* “immoral.” You might not *like* the Holocaust, but you *can’t* call it “immoral.” It was simply one “herd” looking after it’s own best interests. Another “herd” simply stood in its way. Unfortunate for that herd, but certainly not morally *wrong* in any real sense under the rules of Darwinian materialism.

Gary: moral = good behavior; immoral = bad behavior

Who determines whether a behavior/action is good or bad? Answer: the herd. Germany was a member of an international community (the herd). Germany had signed treaties involving the rules of war. Germany broke those rules and therefore paid the consequences. Germany’s behavior was disgusting, barbaric, and immoral by the standards of the herd (the international community).

Just as Moses’ (alleged) command to slaughter all the Midianite mothers and little boys was not perceived as evil by the ancient Israelites, German Nazis did not perceive their slaughter of six million men, women, and children as evil either. However, we today, using the standards (morality) of all civilized nations in the modern world, condemn these acts as both being depraved and immoral.

Bottom line: Which sounds more plausible, folks?

1. Morality is a function of the rules of the group/society, formed by the innate desire of the individuals in that group to survive and reproduce.

or

2. An invisible being who created the universe—only to later come down to earth, disguised as a human, to undergo a human sacrifice to appease the righteous anger of…himself…for the forbidden fruit eating of our ancient ancestors—created these (moral) standards.

One of these explanations sounds sane and reasonable. The other sounds absolutely nuts!

End of post.