Moral Nihilism - right, wrong or ... neither?

[Gil galad]

Being repeatedly accused by a friend of being nihilistic made me start thinking about just what the implications of holding such a position meant. It's very easy to be skeptical of everything, and there are very few things that I think anyone can or should unquestionably believe. It seems obvious to me that morally skeptical positions are harder for people who believe in god to hold, but would like to hear if anyone else has consolidated these positions?

Is it possible for people to have a faith in God and still to be skeptical about morality?

[Lord Mhoram]

Gil galad,

Is it possible for people to have a faith in God and still to be skeptical about morality?

Really good question. I would say: Absolutely. You can have faith in God and that He/She/It works day-to-day in our world, and still wonder about the efficacy and righteousness of that God. I don't think any god should want their followers to have absolute, unwavering, unquestioning faith. Without doubt, you can never have a concrete faith.

[Avatar]

That is one way of looking at it certainly. Of course another would be to say that faith in god is supposed to (in theory at least), answer those questions for the person who holds it.

Faith per se is not supposed to include doubts about the efficacy and righteousness of god, it is supposed to preclude them.

Personally, I think moral scepticism is a good thing. And I see no reason why it can't be incorporated into faith. But I don't, as I said, see that it was intended to be.

--A

[Zarathustra]

Well, God Himself is a moral relativist, so why can't I be? Just look at the morality of the Old Testament vs the New Testament. God changes his mind. So obviously (if you're a Christian), you've already got plenty of examples of how morality isn't absolute.

But of course, I don't believe in God. In terms of morality, I believe whatever the hell I want.

[Avatar]

Which has its advantages huh?

--A