Conversation Between The Philosopher & The Theist

Theist: God is the source of all that is good, why does your secular philosophy ignore God?

Philosopher: To answer I would like to ask you some questions. First, does this god command us to do what is good?

T: Surely.

P: Okay, is it good because he commands it, or does he command it because it is good?

T: Because the Lord commands it.

P: If the good is only good because your god says it is, then he could, if he was all powerful, make it so that killing babies and animals was good. Would that not be absurd to you?

T: Killing babies and animals is not moral! But God would never do that!

P: While it is interesting that you appear to know a lot about an all-knowing being, I am not concerned with what he would do but could do since you mentioned that god could command it. Clearly if god commands what is good then logically that means he could make any act you perceive as evil to be good just by commanding it.

Can god make an evil act good by commanding it?

T: No.

P: Alright, so then he only chooses good because it is good then. But then goodness does not depend on your god and ethics does not require a belief in gods.

T: God and good are one in the same.

P: Again, you are at a dead-end because if goodness and god were one in the same then god could turn anything into good. But as you admit, he cannot do this.

T: You cannot understand the nature of goodness without god.

P: Do you consider god an authority on goodness?

T: Why of course.

P: Do you use your own judgment when it comes to what is right or wrong?

T: Only God can do that.

P: No, clearly you have demonstrated in this conversation that you use your own judgment. You used your own judgment to tell me what you think god would do in such a situation and when I posed the question of what if god commanded that killing babies and animals was now good you used your own judgment to conclude that such an act is still immoral. Good and god are clearly not one in the same; but you use your judgment to find out the nature of good and evil, not the dictates of an authority figure.
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Just updating the classic Euthyphro dilemma. When you add the argument that we use our own judgment it destroys any idea that we need some authority to make judgments for us, ESPECIALLY moral ones. Speaking of secular morality, I HIGHLY recommend the following book: Universally Preferable Behavior it is free to read so you can get to RIGHT NOW! :-) You are welcome.