@
Abstraction (Sorry @
Pikachu it's long and even then too short to explain. This is a small space to discuss a big and very deep topic and I necessarily have to skim over some big pieces. But your summary isn't even close. It's a phantom argument to me. )
1. Morality: I find it helpful to compare the core of morality to laws of physics, inherent. Not 'laws' in the context of rules, but like fabric of the universe. If you decide to ignore gravity you can wind up damaged. If you ignore moral 'laws' or principles it is ultimately to our detriment and detriment of others. If you ignore moral 'laws' it is inherently destructive and damaging. Let's just take two core moral principles and their opposites -
love (vs
selfishness in all its forms) and
truth (vs
deception in all its forms). Consider for a moment how much human pain and damage emerges from selfishness and deception alone. If you are in favour of selfishness and deception, good for you. Some people might claim to subscribe to being selfish and lying when it suits, but the same people
don't like to be victims of it when others lie to them, steal, betray, cheat them, walk over them to get their way...
2.
Love is working with the grain of the universe,
selfishness is working against the grain of the universe.
Truth is working with it,
deception, lies, cheating, spin, manipulation is working against the moral grain of the universe. As a Christian these are not arbitrary rules but based on who God is: God is love - so if I
want to be like him (because I believe in these things) I won't be selfish, I will care for the vulnerable, I care for those who have nothing to give me. Because this is right, even if God doesn't exist. God is faithful - don't betray your partner. God is truth, don't deceive, don't cheat, don't pretend you're something you're not.
NOTE: This contradicts the suggestion that the 'rules' are an arbitrary imposition designed for God's benefit. When people design their own morality most can't help rationalising and compromising - and many screw up their life.
3. Christianity is 'post' (freedom from) rules. But it isn't license to be selfish and lie, either. Even Peter said that Paul writes some things difficult to understand (especially that we are not subject to 'Law' or commandments), but Christianity is not rules. Jesus taught the opposite of selfishness and deception: he taught to love your enemies, give your cloak to the one who wants your sandals, to go beyond not because he commands it, but because that is what God is like and our relationship with God makes us want to do these things even if there was no God because we learn to show love even to strangers who have nothing to offer us. If you don't understand this (that Christianity is not "an imposed set of rules rather than thinking for yourself") you are probably not in a position to critique Christian morality in relation to God. You can certainly comment on social 'Christian' morality imposed on others by (often self-righteous) 'Christians' who actually contradict what Jesus taught. But you can't critique what Jesus taught and intended until you understand it.
Let me be clear, I'm
not saying you have to be a Christian to have good morality. Christianity doesn't teach that either, it teaches most humans concur with these really core values. It just says either way, you'll struggle to live it consistently because we are fallen beings.