Does Ethics Require God? (Dan Barker Debate, March 2005)

Debate between Dan Barker and Peter Payne

University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

March 14, 2005

Dan Barker, a former minister who is now co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, debated Christian philosopher Peter Payne on the topic “Does Ethics Require God?” at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point on March 14, 2005. The event, sponsored by four campus groups, attracted a packed crowd of several hundred students as well as community freethinkers and FFRF members.

When Barker asked, “If God told you to kill me, would you do it?”, Payne replied, uncomfortably, that if he were certain it was really God making the command, he would have to consider it. 

Part One

Part Two

Freedom From Religion Foundation