Callout Out Frank Turek For His Authoritarian Propogandist Grift

 I remember when I was a Christian and thus reasoned that same way.

At least Frank is closer to fair than most apologists would be (about this matter). But let's be honest about this. First, ... there is NOTHING under the category of "morality" that all humans agree about. If you want to say that a "God" wrote ANYTHING on literally everyone's "heart" (the emotional facets of their mind), then: That ink got washed away during every sociopath's (and psychopath's and Narcissist's) childhood.

"God" needs better ink. Weird. I guess he's waiting for us to invent that for him. --- Also, if Frank's "God" has an eternally unchanging moral "nature", then: his moral opinions (call those "facts", if you want to) would not change. And yet, Bibles tell of a God's JOURNEY of moral growth. Thus, he no longer feels morally outraged when: * people eat shellfish (Granted, many vegans (Theists and Nontheists) would argue this is immoral. But at least we no longer murder people for eating shellfish), or * wear mixed fiber clothing, or * allow unruly children to remain un-stoned to death. Here, Christine Hayes (of Yale University) explains how that worked for the Biblical Hebrews:

Meanwhile, ... "Good" is just a statement of positivity. Someone finds a concept, plan, or state of mind favorable. Someone likes something. So they assess it as "good". "Good" and bad" means the same thing when forming an opinion about pineapple on pizza ... as when we form an opinion about atrocities. It's just more important and more strongly felt (for most people) in the context of atrocities (and anything else we care more about than pineapple on pizza). Meanwhile, ... Beavers don't need a deity to justify thinking it's good to build dams. You could say a deity "wrote it in their hearts" to think it's good to build dams.
Although, of course, if beavers understood the concept of a "deity" (Magic Person In Sky), ... I'm sure they'd denounce all human deities as "false"; because only Beaver-God is true. The Great Beaver, who created beavers in her image ... also created mankind ... AFTER making beavers. Beaver-God now hopes that we all REPENT of the SINS of interfering with their habitats.
From their perspective, THEY would be the pinnacle and focus of creation.

We just happened to be the first (that we know of) to reach that evolutionary stage (albeit, still infantile) of psychological mechanisms.

Christians don't need a deity to justify thinking it's good to support their local sports team. Nor do they need a deity to justify any of their morally-themed opinions and choices. One Christian cites their "God" as a premise for moral view A. Some other Christian sites their "God" as a premise for moral view B; where B is incompatible with A. Another Christian doesn't bother to cite any "God" for whichever issue. Instead, they rely on entirely secular reasoning and intuitions for the same. -With the idea that their "God" expects and wishes for them to think for themselves; - with the best of intentions and the best of their rational abilities. All the while, some Muslims, Hindus, and Deists are watching all that happen ... and they have a range of responses of agreements relative to: * each other and * those three different Christians. All the while, no "God" appears. No Super-Being shows up to step in; to get those people all on the same page about it. And this is, of course, why it took most Christians thousands of years to decide that slavery is bad. Religion evolves. And which faction (ideological niche) of Christianity fought to keep slaves? Frank's. And to be quite frank, Turek, ... on behalf of progressive Theists and Nontheists alike, ... It has been exhausting dragging your faction of hyperConservative fundamentalist ideologues kicking and screaming into the future.

All the while, ironically, it's not religion that decides who agrees with who.

No. So then, .. what does? Personality and locality. The personality traits which draw people to authoritarianism (fear, paranoia, hate, narcissism, black and white thinking) have a huge effect on people's morally-themed values. - So does whichever religious faction captures their mind, to fill in the details. The same is true for people who are wired differently and live in different regions. They too are drawn to people who already think like they do about personal *values (*comparative values people assess ... for what each thing is worth ... to them personally). Even if we grant "Free Will", it turns out to be the least impactful factor in any adult's morally-themed attitudes, perceptions, and actions in the real world. External and internal happenings which are not "freely chosen" end up having more power in the way we develop our morally-themed sensibilities ... than anything else.

Those factors which we cannot "freely choose" end up deciding: * WHAT we think any "Holy Book" actually means, and * HOW we think it should be applied in our lives, and even * IF we think so at all. Only in a world where a Super-Being directly communicates his essential wisdom to each individual person (no writers; no messengers) ... and where every person has a universally-same and perfect ability to understand what that Super-Being means by all of it ... would it then be reasonable for anyone (Man or God) to condemn people as "rejecting" and "rebelling against" any such message. We can't really "reject" (or: shelf) a specific idea ... if we're really only rejecting (or: shelving) our misunderstanding of it. Either way, ... all "wrong"-responding people absolutely would come around to the "right" way of thinking, IF a "God" shows up like Morgan Freeman in "Bruce Almighty"; - to personally counsel, nurture, earn trust, heal, and guide them into it.

Doing so would include ZERO infringement upon personal mental liberties. In truth, ... NOBODY has EVER been beyond restoration. This is one of the most important discoveries that Frank Turek's religious faction still hasn't realized. And yet, no "God" shows up to bother taking those often-necessary extra steps. That is the real reason so many "wrong" sects and religions exist. If a Jehovah's Witness comes to me and says "Accept that Jesus was sent by his God to die for you (*or else)!" ... I'm going to LOL at them; and then go about my life. I would not take that seriously. Nor would Frank Turek advise that I do; because: What the JWs MEAN by those words is radically different than what Frank means by those words. Later, ... If someone in a "true" faction of Christianity (assuming such a thing exists) comes to me and says the exact same words as the JW said .. then why should I be any more impressed? Just because what they MEAN by the exact same words ... is more correct? How would I know what they mean? And how would I know their meanings are more correct? Only after MANY hours with any self-proclaimed "messenger of God" ... could I then truly assess their specific claims. [assuming any version might be legit] Even a perfect person would have that limitation. It's worse for us imperfect people; because our unchosen failings ... cause us to misunderstand randomly-many things that ANYONE will EVER attempt to communicate to us. So even if a perfect Super-Being told some random human something ... that random human is going to at least slightly misunderstand it. Later, when that fallible human goes to REPEAT it to other humans, the messenger's choice of words will be imperfect. Additionally, the failings of the LISTENER will further compromise the integrity of the message. Every next "messenger" and "translator" is going to add further accidental corruption. So now we have billions of "messengers" who can't agree with each other about: * what the message is nor * what the words are supposed to mean. But they all feel entitled (literally entitled) to my ears, my attention, my respect, my time, my thoughts, my feelings, and my credulity; hours and hours of it. But why should any targeted person ... even START to comply? There needs to be a reason that ALL honest adults with an IQ over (80? 100?) already have ... for why they'd even want to shop around for a religion, or "seek" for a Magic Man In The Sky. But I was not born possessing such a reason. Nor did the journey provide one. Granted, many religious people claim they naturally came into a great reason to "seek" a "God". But if you really listen and think about it ... those reasons are always personal and subjective. And they are certainly not universal. -- While countless many people remain without any (not even one) objectively good reason to even suppose there might be a Magic Man In Sky playing a very High Stakes Game of Hide And Seek with all able-minded humans, ... There are tens of thousands of Christian factions; and just as many non-Christian religions. So then,... The ODDS that a "true messenger" shows up to preach @ any random "wayward soul" ... are really bad odds (or impossible odds, if none of them are true). Any random wayward soul could keep rolling those dice with random truth-sayers. But life is very short. It's also equally demanding. There isn't a lot of time to seek out some hidden "truth". In fact, some of us get basically no time at all. IF there is such a truth, pretty much everyone dies before finding it. Instead, most religious-"truth" seekers ... get TRICKED (through no fault of their own) by a fake-truth-religion, or a Not-Correct-Enough faction of Christianity ... and then waste years (or an entire lifetime) on those false religions. Meanwhile, all of those CONS are playing out, right now, in billions of people's lives. Those dilemmas are caused by people ASSUMING that their lives are supposed to be all about those assumptions and struggles. -Great pains, consequential missteps, confusion, and wasted years of their lives; wasted on SEEKING a "God" that they keep failing to find. But they IMAGINE (with confidence which rivals Frank's own) they've actually found "God". Those billions of pawns TRIED to "find God". They sought. They "knocked". Their imaginations answered. But it seemed real to them. Meanwhile, our world is torn apart by morally-themed divisions ... made worse by all the different religions and sects ... who all DEMAND that all the OTHERS are to blame. ... Until they stumble into a lecture like Frank's. And then they realize: "Oh yea. We could just blame the atheists for how morally divided humanity is. That way, we can:
*Invoke a false dichotomy;

under the false premise that: * everyone must choose between OUR religious narrative or "atheism". Thus, we can propose that: * WE must be 100% right if atheists seem rationally unjustified; as a result of this manipulative gambit. This game also helps us: * posture as "right" and "righteous" per the illusion of objectively-grounded epistemology.
It also helps us: 
*pretend like our BOOK fosters harmony, and *pretend it provides objective moral clarity.

It also helps us:  *pretend that we have our own house in order." -- -- Humanity is often a shit-show of horrors. However, and even more often, it's also impressively beautiful; even where Frank's religion is entirely absent. Atheists:

Hindu tribute to Shiva:

Native American/ Astral Projection, healing:

Mormon Progressives (w/ Lyrics that are actually agreeing with me about this)

Other examples of beautiful music that Frank's "God" neither authored nor inspired: Literally, all music that isn't made by, because of, or for Frank's religion. Other examples of beautiful happenings that Frank's "God" neither authored nor inspired: Literally, all happenings that aren't based on what Frank's "God" allegedly authors or demands. Countless many people merit more praise (and less condemnation) than what Frank's religious faction is willing to concede. Frank would grant some. But he withholds a large measure of what's due; because Frank can't see it. Granted, most militant atheists can't see that fuller and truer range of sacred beauty either. But that's mostly because they're in too much pain to see it. And it's people like Frank who cause most of that pain. Already, most atheists can see and appreciate more than Frank can. The rest of it will come, in time, as the painmakers of our world diminish. Our world is getting happier, healthier, and more prosperous (more "good") every decade; according to global statistics. It's not getting worse overall. It's getting better; -Despite how often Abrahamic-Religious, Conservative Fundamentalists have fought (and are still fighting) against that progress. In fact, specifically BECAUSE of that Great Awakening (shared among progressive Christian theists, progressive non-Christian theists, and progressive atheists), ... nobody outside of Frank's camp of hyper-conservative, religious ideologues thinks Frank's tribe SHINES like a beacon over darkened seas.

And yet, ... With terrible growing pains, humanity is beginning to outgrow its collective infancy. In an attempt to maintain Frank's very profitable/exploitable religious culture, ... Frank can keep demonizing everyone who commits the "sin" of being unimpressed. But only people with a similar personality and who have already been groomed into similar ideological narratives will mistake that for being helpful; or even remotely reasonable.