If There Is No God, Murder Isn't Wrong | 5 Minute Video

Summary

Dennis Prager argues that without God, morality cannot be objectively true and can only consist of individual or societal opinions.

• Moral facts versus scientific facts: Prager contrasts evidence for scientific claims—such as photographs and measurements showing that Earth is round—with moral claims like “murder is wrong.” He argues that moral wrongness cannot be established scientifically and that, without God, there are no objective moral facts.
• The role of God in morality: He presents Judeo-Christian morality as grounded in a God who establishes moral rules. In his view, God’s existence makes good and evil objective rather than matters of preference.
• Belief and behavior are separate questions: Prager acknowledges that nonbelievers can be kind and moral, and that believers can behave badly or commit evil. He says these examples concern how people act, not whether good and evil objectively exist.
• Moral relativism: He says that without God, morality becomes relative to individuals or societies. On this account, calling murder evil amounts to saying, “I don’t like murder.”
• Why self-interest may not prevent wrongdoing: Prager rejects the idea that people will avoid murder simply because they do not want to be murdered. He points to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao as examples of leaders who did not want to be killed but nevertheless oversaw mass murder.
• Historical claims about Western values: He argues that societies shaped by Judeo-Christian values were the first to abolish slavery, affirm universal human rights, emancipate women, and champion liberty. He links the rejection of those values in Nazism and Communism to mass killing.
• Concern about moral confusion: Prager cites a philosophy professor writing in The New York Times in March 2015 who expressed surprise that many college freshmen regarded moral claims as opinions. Prager concludes that abandoning Judeo-Christian values and moral absolutes risks a world of moral confusion.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Dennis Prager — the speaker and presenter.
• An unnamed philosophy professor — quoted from a March 2015 New York Times article.
• Atheist philosophers — referred to generally by Prager as people he has read or debated; none are named.