Übergeek 바둑이: "Like a said in my previous post, many statements about what is right and wrong are made "a priori", meaning without no basis other than the statement itself. The decision to accept an act as right or wrong is a personal decision."

If a claim has no basis other than the claim itself, then all claims would be equal. So rape is wrong and rape is right. Both are statements and if the basis for each statement is simply the claim itself, both are right (which is a contradiction and won't stand).

"What society says and what an individual does are two different things. If I say it is wrong to kill and exploit others, it is my personal choice and something I believe not based on some socially agreed standard."

If you really believe this, then why do you complain that corporations do things to get rich? Isn't that simply their personal choice?


"If you say that the threat of violence is the only thing that stops people from being bad, then give me a reason why it is wrong for Al Qaeda to attack the USA, just because the USA will bomb them and kill them?"

I'm actually saying that as an atheist, you have no grounds to argue against things you claim are "wrong." I say Al Qaeda is "wrong" because they kill people without justification. But when I say justification, I mean more than I just don't like it. I mean it's objectively wrong to kill another person without moral justification. For the atheist, it is only subjectively wrong. They don't like it. But beyond not liking it, they have no foundational argument.

"Well, then why is ANYTHING wrong? I make this "a priori" statement: it is wrong to kill someone because of their race. You can choose to believe it or not. It is your INDIVIDUAL choice, and you are responsible for that choice."

Here's where you are wrong. You argue that simply because you say so, something is right or wrong. If something is truly wrong, it's wrong for both you and I. It's wrong independent of your feelings to the contrary. Otherwise it is benign. Consequences don't matter. They don't determine if something is right or wrong. Consequences are implemented by a society against a particular act it deems offensive. But for something to be objectively wrong, it would be wrong EVEN IF nobody believed it. (such as abortion).

Abortion is either wrong or it is not wrong. It is not both. Same with stealing or lying or killing. They are either morally justified or they are not. It is not a personal choice that determines right or wrong.

Since something can be truly objectively wrong (killing babies for fun) then they are transcendent truths. Since objective truth exists, there must be an objective truth giver that transcends our human intellect.