Moral Nihilism: The logical conclusion to religion

[TKoontz 0]

*Not all religion, but I didn't feel like writing every religion whose focus is on an all-powerful/knowing deity in the title. Enjoy, and try not to take too seriously*

This deals with the common belief of the Judeo-Christian god having both omniscience and omnipotence. Lovers of classical thought will instantly see where this is going:

“If god is omnipotent and omniscient, can he change his own mind?”

In case you’ve not heard this question posed before, or given much thought to it I’ll save you some time. It’s a paradox; the two powers are incompatible. I don’t think I would be remiss in saying that most of us subscribe to the view that our world is ordered, and follows a set of basic laws that (as of yet) never deviate.

This all relates back to a discussion I was having with a coworker of mine, centered on this very question and it came down to this (mind you, this is paraphrased as his replies were always “yeah but…” ):

If you accept the premise that god can be both all-knowing and all-powerful at the same time, then you are forced to make a rationalization; that our world is not constrained by the concept of logic, and that (by deductive reasoning) if one thing can exist in our world in two different states at the same time, it follows that other things may as well.

*(Yes yes, I know a little of quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principles, Schrodinger’s cat, etc. But we’re talking macroscopic observations. ie, I am a 20 year old male only, I am not, at the same time, an 80 year old giant sequoia)

Take this ‘logic’ and apply it to the concept of morality (or anything that exhibits duality). In this world which must now conform to the rationalization previously mentioned, so too can good and evil. Both are now freely interchangeable; this renders the concept of morality moot. Without a moral compass, choices are now only based on cause and effect.

Thusly, the only choice from here for those that believe in the biblical god, is a path of staunch moral Nihilism.

Unless of course you invent a rationalization for why morality is exempt from the rule, but let’s take this one step at a time.

Find your peace, though the world around you burns