LOVE to heavy question! And happy Sunday indeed. It’s a beautiful fall day over here. 😊🍁
I would explain good and evil not through a divine command or supernatural lawgiver, but through a combination of evolutionary biology, social cooperation, human empathy, and cultural evolution.
More specifically to answer your precise questions (which are epic questions)…
“Are they all pointing at the same moon or striving for the same goodness?”
No. They are not striving for the same thing.
Secular frameworks do not view the abuser, the rapist, or the trafficker as "misguided seekers of goodness." They are individuals inflicting real, measurable suffering for power, gratification, or profit.
I generally reject the idea that all human behavior - no matter how horrific - is just a different, flawed attempt to reach a singular, mystical "goodness" or divine truth. The suffering of an abducted child or a slave is a tangible reality, not a spiritual lesson or a cosmic misunderstanding.
“Is there wrong?”
Yes, wrong absolutely exists, but it is defined by human impact rather than divine decree. We do not need a particular religious god to see that rape, murder, slavery, and exploitation are wrong. They are wrong because humans are sentient beings who experience pain, terror, and grief. The wrongness is found in the harm done to the victim.
“Who chooses that line?”
We do - collectively, through empathy, reason, and social cooperation.
The baseline is the golden rule of “do not harm others" - where ALL religions originated - which predates the Bible btw). This golden rule is a pragmatic, universal foundation seen throughout our historic timeline. We choose the line based on the shared understanding that we all want to live free from fear, pain, and exploitation.
Because humans draw the line, our moral circle can expand. For example, historically, many religions justified slavery or the persecution of homosexuals. Through secular reasoning, human rights advocacy, and empathy, society recognized the immense harm of those positions and moved the line to be more inclusive and just.
“How is wrong dealt with?”
Through human justice, accountability, and systemic reform in the here and now. There is no cosmic balancing of the scales. This makes human justice urgent.
Wrong is dealt with in society through laws, courts, rehabilitation, and institutional protection for the vulnerable. When the system fails, it is a human failure that requires human effort to fix.
Secular ethics places a massive emphasis on preventing harm - fixing the societal root causes of crime, poverty, and exploitation—because this life is the only chance we have to get it right.