Morals Minus G-d?
Rabbi Mendel Bluming, who serves the community through the Chabad Shul of
Potomac, is often challenged with this question.
Below is a thought based on Jewish philosophy:
Good is so because G-d made that choice. G-d is not bound by anything,
and could have chosen differently. He could have said "Thou shalt
steal," and "Do not help the poor and needy." Helping old ladies
cross the road would be the wrong thing to do, but mugging them would be o.k.
Now you could argue, anyone with a healthy conscience knows that
stealing is morally wrong and helping the needy is a righteous and decent thing
to do. But our conscience was too created by G-d. If morality would be on its
head, we would be wired accordingly. Fortunately for all those old ladies
trying to cross the street everywhere, G-d chose the former way around.
Does this mean good isn't good in actuality? Is morality nothing more
than a fanciful fancy? Not at all. Only humans are whimsical and random. G-d is
absolute. Good is unconditionally good not because it feels good to me but since
the Absolute One made it so. Morality is defined by the infinite scale of G-d,
not the finite nature of human feelings.
The real dilemma is the following: without G-d, how can anything possibly exist
as good or evil? Who decides? That is a very good question...