To the editor:

In a previous letter I asserted that without God there is no basis for morality. Kyle Batson (Public Forum, Jan. 17) says “it is a disgusting and vile thing for God to command” certain things. What moral standard is used to say that? He says we have a moral compass separate from God. Where did it come from? If not God, did it evolve? Do all have the same compass? How does it give us a standard and the obligation to keep it? Are we not to harm others? What is the standard of harm and how can naturalistic evolution give us that obligation?

Brenda Frei thinks I am a bigot. (Public Forum, Jan. 18) Indeed the Bible tells of murder and others, but it tells the truth about sinful human beings. She thinks those things are wrong and gives other examples from the Bible. But what moral basis can be given for her moral pronouncements other than her tastes? Bigotry? She says morality comes “from responsible decisions and behavior” and an effort to better society. What moral standard does she have for responsible decisions and behavior and a better society? Is it what she wants? Can naturalistic evolution provide a basis for moral behavior? It has not and cannot.

Both letters demonstrate the human cry for morality, yet apart from God, and that one cannot be had without the other. Both have demonstrated (despite protestations) that they were created in God’s image by desiring standards of morality they cannot provide apart from Him.

Richard Smith,

Lawrence