Morals
QVAEDAM NON IURA SCRIPTA SED OMNIBVS SCRIPTIS CERTIORA SVNT.
Some laws are unwritten, but they are better established than all written ones.
(Seneca the Elder)
This is a topic I feel I've covered somewhat in other parts, but it's so big that it really deserves a full exploration. I've made mention as to what morality really is with respect to society, but one question remains: What reason is there for an atheist to act morally? It's a good question, I suppose, if one has only been exposed to the righteous claims of the Church. The sociological effects, and facts, can tell a different story. Personally, I am shocked and saddened that the Church could be wrong (*wink & smile*).
The Golden Rule (you know, "Do unto others...") isn't really that important. I contend that this rule is human nature. It is the basis for society, and was around long before it was ever written. We all know this "rule" inherently, and without this justification, we would have never built societies at all. We would live as independent nomads, coming together to fight and/or breed.
"Ah-ha!" Some might say."God made us this way, which sets us apart from the rest of creation and proves divine influence." Ah-ha! I say. Virtually all animals that live in groups do the same thing. Even timber rattlesnakes, which can kill each other with just one bite, live together in groups of up to a hundred. Animals that fight to the death or eat each other simply don't form social groups. Tally up another one for evolution, and find another gap for your god-of-the-gaps.
This instinct--the Golden Instinct (that's right)--is so ingrained in us (and other species) that we don't even think about it. No god, by any name, is necessary for it. So that's how the Chinese have sustained themselves as a people for thousands of years! I always wondered how they could live at all without the Lord Jesus....
The allegation is made, and I'm being serious, that atheists (or anyone without a god) kill, steal and abuse children. I contend that these things, particularly child molestation, are not natural tendencies. Even if they were, the overriding rule of the Golden Instinct would take over. Making such an accusation implies that theists fight between their religious convictions and an intense desire to have sex with children. Ridiculous.
If fear of the Jewish war god is what keeps people in line, one would expect a different situation. The beliefs of prisoners in US federal prisons were surveyed, and it was found that less than 0.1% were atheists. This is actually less than the general population. Roman Catholics, who compose 12% of the general population, make up 30% of federal prisoners and 50% of the total prison population, including state prisons. (Don't ask me; I can't explain it.) Baptists also cause a disproportionate amount of crime.
I have always found it odd that the religious fight so strongly against abortion and/or doctor-assisted suicide. As far as I'm concerned, an atheist has more justification for these beliefs. If it gets good up there, why would you want everyone to be here for as long as possible? If the afterlife is eternal bliss, especially for infants, what difference does this life make? The religious also take an illogical position on the death penalty. As an atheist, I am more justified to push for tough penalties or death right here and now. If the sinners will eventually get theirs (hell), then why so strict now? (Note: The Roman Catholic Church does oppose the death penalty, because John Paul II is the first and only pope to oppose it. I suppose God's messengers have been hearing him incorrectly for 2000 years?)
Christian morality is poor morality. Sure, the stuff they teach every week is squeaky clean, but the Old and New Testaments would indicate otherwise. You see, when your morality is based on a being who is supposed to be the absolute of morality, evil things done by this god become "moral" by definition. Here are some examples:
God doing/commanding evil things:
[27]And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel,
Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from
gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother,
and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
[28] And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses:
and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (Exodus 32:27-28)
[23]And he went up from thence unto Bethel:
and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little
children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him,
Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.
[24] And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them
in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears
out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. (II Kings 2:23-24)
(Clarification: God sends bears to rip up 42 children for calling Elisha a "baldhead".)
[8]O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us; [9]
he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks." (Psalm 137:8-9)
[5]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;(Exodus 20:5)
(Emphasis added.)
[15]Six days may work be done;
but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest,
holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the
sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 31:15)
[17]Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,
and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
[18] But all the women children, that have not known a man by
lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. (Numbers 31:17-18)
[16] Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up. (II Kings 15:16)
[15] Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
[16] Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. (Isaiah 13:15-16)
[5] And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
[6] Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women.... (Ezekiel 9:5-6)
[16] Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. (Hosea 13:16)
[33] And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
[34] And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: (Deuteronomy 2:33-34)
God Deliberately Causing/Creating Evil:
[34]Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:
I came not to send peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)
[6]Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people
not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath
not done it? (Amos 3:6)
[11]Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against
you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your
ways and your doings good. (Jeremiah 18:11)
[7]I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and
create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)
I contend that instead of the Golden Instinct or the Golden Rule (same thing), Jews and Christians must ultimately base their standard on an emotional, vindictive, and confessedly jealous being. Basing morals on societal standards may be changing, but it is relevant and temporarily absolute. Conversely, basing morals on the Bible is unchanging, sometimes irrelevant and not absolute (How many denominations claim to have the "true" interpretation?).
If we define immorality correctly as that which is unacceptable to society, it becomes clear that morals have nothing to do with supernatural absolutes. It is human nature, instead, that is at the heart of the matter. While eternal reward or damnation may be comforting on occasion, the average person doesn't act in a civil manner to avoid a sulfur bath.
That said, it would appear that I actually do believe in what is commonly described as "moral absolutes". There is a resistance on the political left to describe any culture or values as "inferior", even when they clearly are. (Yet another reason why I could never be a liberal.) When the Prime Minister of Italy described the superiority of Western culture to Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures, and to socialism/communism, he was right. Free markets, the right to life, liberty and property...these things are better not only philosophically, but also better as proven by the evidence of history. To hear the reaction he received, one might have thought he called for the destruction of all non-Europeans. It wasn't the superiority of European human beings he was hinting at, but rather the universal recognition of basic human dignity that makes the culture superior.
Pundits on the right accused the Prime Minister's detractors of being moral relativists. The idea is that comparing the two cultures and finding one superior can only come about because one culture is closer to some ideal--some absolute Truth. Moral relativists cannot make such judgments, because all values are equal. I don't know about that. I posit that the hand wringers could not shake for a moment their commitment to universal acceptance and tolerance of anyone and anything.
Maybe I do have some ideal in mind. But it does not come from the Christian god. He seems to heavily favor monarchies in the Bible. The republic model of government was devised by pagans (the Greeks) and brought to prominence by other pagans (the Romans) and was gone from the Earth by the time of Jesus's supposed birth, not to return again until the inception of the United States of America and its constitution in 1789. My ideal isn't based on some Supreme Power, and Christians/Jews in the West cannot claim theirs is either. At least, not with their "holy" texts. Like me, they just base their judgments on reason, practicality, and plain historical evidence for the effectiveness of the Western system. But I digress.
I hope this clears things up. As far as I'm concerned, I, like everyone else, have one go at life. Personally, I'm going to make the most of it while I'm still cognizant. I'll treat you nice, if you treat me nice. It's the unwritten contract of societies. Live and let live. You can conjure up whatever boogie man you need in order to follow that rule, but don't expect me to do the same. I ain't afraid of no ghost.
All Biblical Citations from KJV, Except Psalm 137:8-9, from NIV for Clarity of Meaning.
Federal Prison data from U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons, Census 04-11-2000. Detailed at
this atheism site.
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