Morality-what is good and evil

I was thinking about the foundation of all monotheistic theology;  the Judgment. The part of religion where it is stated that there are some strict Moral rules in the universe, enforced (either passively or actively) by God and at the end of life you will be judged according to these rules.

Does there exist some Great Moral Order that is outside the universe and could only come from God? The Catholic church teaches that morality is not found in nature, animals have no 10 commandments and simply follow their natural instincts for survival.

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis argued that "conscience reveals to us a moral law whose source cannot be found in the natural world, thus pointing to a supernatural Lawgiver."

Basically, conscience makes people act in a manner that sometimes goes against their own interests. This is unnatural and can only come from God. 

I disagree with this argument. For the simple reason that we need not look outside nature to find morality. It is present in any social organism from monkey troupes to dolphin pods.

When evolution came up with a social organism it HAD to create natural laws to govern the social interaction between those organisms, otherwise the social order that allowed the organism to thrive would break down. Meaning that for any animal to survives in a highly ordered group, like say a pack of wolves, they must be programmed to naturally put the survival of the group above that of the individual (in certain circumstances). For example, many adults coming together to protect younger ones from a predator. Any one of the adults might be injured or even killed in the attack but it is far better for the Social unit (pack, pride, herd ,flock) to lose one adult than to lose the young. This would be considered a moral act (For there is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for another) but it is visible everyday on the savannah. 

Humans are social organisms, evolved from social organisms. The very same mechanisms that are at work on a band of gorillas are at work on us as well. We are pushed to put the welfare of our society ahead of individual interest in certain circumstances. That is simple evolution.  

In fact I believe that it is possible to substitute the term "Moral" with the phrase "good for human civilization as a whole" and "immoral" with "bad for human civilization as a whole" . Why do we not kill? because it would be bad for human civilization as a whole if everyone started killing each other.  Why do we not steal? because it would be bad for human civilization as a whole if everyone started stealing from each other...etc

Let's have a look at the 10 commandments (King James Version)  and see whether it is necessary for them to have come from outside nature. Or are they simply a very concise list of things that ANY society of social organisms must adhere to in order to survive?

1.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Assuming none of these were divine revelations, this is easily explained as a way to preserve the Jewish religion. That it comes first should be a clue as to the aim of the whole document.

2.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Again, another way of preserving the Jewish religion. At the time that this was written all competing faiths used Statues and Idols to symbolize their Gods. This was the Jews way of setting themselves apart. Notice the dire threats from the "loving" God.

3.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Another Jewish practice. No Objective morality here.

4.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Another Jewish practice. No Objective morality here.

5.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

A simple way to ensure that the old are cared for by the young, in order to provide leadership and stability in society even after they have grown too old to do physical labor. Elephants have been seen to do this.

6.

Thou shalt not kill.

A no brainer. Any society, even insects that don't obey this rule within their society, die out. There is no way to preserve a society without a taboo on killing each other.

7.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

For any animal that mates for life (as humans naturally do) preserving that union and its offspring is very important to the society. The family unit becomes the smallest unit in the social order. In the case of man, adultery causes the natural feelings of jealousy and often sparks violence among members of a society. This is of course counterproductive to the continuance of that society therefore it is considered "immoral"

8.

Thou shalt not steal.

Any society that does not respect private property shall descend into anarchy immediately. This is especially true for humans. even pirates respect the rights of ownership of other pirates in their group, if they did not, the group would cease to exist.

9.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

This comes down to trust. The members of one society should be able to trust each other if they are to survive times of hardship. Without trust then there is no safety, without safety in numbers there is no society.  It is implicit even in a pride of lions. A female can trust her young to another female of the pride. Trusting that she will not simply abandon or eat them.

10.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

This ties into the rights of private ownership. In this case it deal with a problem that plagues humans and most higher primates, also some birds. That of jealousy.  a human will grow jealous of another's possessions, the next step to that is to seek to acquire said possession by theft if necessary. Theft can lead to violence and violence to anarchy. It may also say something about Jewish society that they required so many commandments dealing with theft or the desire to steal.

What this shows is that there is no inherent GOODNESS in the 10 commandments. They are simply laws that are (somewhat) required for any human society to survive. Or any animal society for that matter.

These commandments were not aimed at some higher reward, but to help ensure the stability of humanity right here on earth. These are things ANY ruler would require of he was to keep his kingdom going.

 And what is the best way to give these rules authority? Say they are from God and unchallengeable.

Furthermore morality is EVOLUTIONARILY REQUIRED for the development of a social organism. Morals and sense of "right" and "wrong" are natural laws engraved upon our genes, like height, skin colour etc. They need no outside source in order to exist. 

So if Morality and conscience does not require an ever watchful, judging God in order for them to exist. What does that say about Christian theology? what then, is the point of it all?