Is Religion the Source of Morality?
by Jerry Brown
Most religious people are sure it is, and many claim that without it we would all be savages. The evidence indicates otherwise.
Christians who make this claim evidently do not know much of the history of religion in general and of Christianity in particular. They are also not very familiar with the contents of their own Bible. Its cruel and vindictive God, forever "smiting" people, and condoning slavery, murder, genocide, and subjugation of women is an atrocious example of morality. We are lucky that most Christians do not live by the Bible, and we had better make sure that those who would rule by it do not ever get in positions where they can.
There is no credible evidence outside of the Bible (which proves itself to be unreliable) that its "savior" Jesus Christ ever lived, much less had the extraordinary powers attributed to him. So that means the whole Christian religion is based on a false premise, a lie, which we are admonished to accept, under penalty of eternal punishment, as fact. That comes pretty close to extortion, and is not a very good opening for something claiming to be the standard for morality.
A major tenet of the Christian religion--that because of a mythical event in the dim past we are all born in "sin," and that someone had to suffer a horrible death so that we can be "redeemed" by believing this BARBARIC, INHUMANE idea--is a moral outrage. Another one, that a person can spend a lifetime creating misery in this world, then "repent" and live happily forever in another one, while someone else whose life was devoted to bettering the human condition but who cannot believe illogical nonsense will be eternally tortured, is a travesty of any concept of justice.
The religious notion of reliance on an imaginary "outside power" is the root of all sorts of problems, some of them quite serious. Children have died because their parents, trusting in "god," withheld medical treatment that could have saved their lives. That's not only immoral that's CRIMINAL. Religion tells us we are inherently evil and helpless, which certainly doesn't do much to promote self-esteem. Religion fought the use of anesthetics on the ground that suffering is "god's will" and must therefore be endured; it has defended wars and unwanted births on the same grounds. Anyone claiming these to be moral concepts has to be kidding.
Historically, religion has opposed anything that conflicts with its fables, no matter how well-supported the evidence. The evolution/creation conflict, which should have been settled with the Scopes "monkey" trial, shows how many religionists today continue to think in the same myopic way. This is basically a put-down of the human mind, our most valuable asset and the one thing separating us from all other animals. It is an immoral, anti-human concept.
Christianity teaches that knowledge is to be avoided, that questioning is wrong, that doubting is sinful, and that the right thing to do is to believe without evidence, on "faith." This is another put-down of the intellect, a sure route to gullibility, and a perfect tool for tyrants.
The Christian doctrine that humans are a special divine creation put here to have dominion over everything has made us oblivious of the fact that we are but a rather insignificant part of life on this planet, all of which is inter-dependent. It has led us to be more conquerors than stewards, more plunderers than conservators. The "savior" myth has produced "Armageddon syndrome" which is threatening the entire species and possibly others as well. Far from being humble, these are arrogant, irresponsible, immoral beliefs.
To say religion is the source o f morals is to ignore the facts. The more highly-evolved mammals have all developed behavioral codes that enable them to live together in groups with relative harmony; the larger the group, the more strict are the rules (this is also true in human society). Lions hunt together in mutual respect, as do wolves, and they develop a hierarchy that helps them survive. Even ants have a certain amount of what we might call moral behavior. Morality is not exclusive with religion, and certainly not with Christianity. Moral precepts are far older and come from life in the real world; they have survival value. Social conscience exists for utilitarian reasons and is the result of thousands of years of experience--it's just plain "good business." Belief or non-belief in the God concept has nothing to do with it. People who credit their good behavior go God are short-changing themselves. They would be more honest, and give their self-esteem a boost, if they gave credit where it is due: to themselves.
What are called God's laws are in fact HUMAN laws. Some of them have practical value in the functioning of society (these long predate Christianity), some have at one time been useful but no longer are, others never did have practical value, and some are so cruel and abhorrent that it is decidedly unflattering to acknowledge their human origin.
As for the claim that our civil laws come from the Christian religion, Thomas Jefferson said that U.S. common law was derived from the Anglo-Saxons while they were still pagan "when they had never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced." The U.S. Constitution was NOT founded by Christians. The founders were mostly Deists, many of whom took an extremely dim view of Christianity.
Religion in intellectually dishonest and immoral because it teaches as fact things for which it has no credible evidence, while at the same time attempting to hide the actual facts which provide the only realistic basis for dealing with our situation. It is basically an instrument of denial and deception, explaining nothing and solving no problems, and is for all practical purposes USELESS. If, as claimed, it is the basis for morality, then after several thousands of years of such widespread practice of it we should no longer need locks, police, or prisons. Instead, we always seem to need more of them. And the ratio of religious believers to atheists in prisons has been found to be considerably higher than in the general population.
In spit of all this, most of the religious people I've known have been reasonably decent folk. But so have the atheists. Where does THEIR morality come from? The same place that of good Christians comes from--their own conscience, their desire to just "get along." The difference is that the atheists can freely acknowledge this; they don't have to give credit to a god. They are simply facing reality. And that's moral A very IMMORAL thing is the captivity and degradation of the human mind, and that has been the specialty of religion since its inception.
It is possible to be quite moral without being religious. It is also possible, as history proves to be quite religious without being moral.
by Jerry Brown
Most religious people are sure it is, and many claim that without it we would all be savages. The evidence indicates otherwise.
Christians who make this claim evidently do not know much of the history of religion in general and of Christianity in particular. They are also not very familiar with the contents of their own Bible. Its cruel and vindictive God, forever "smiting" people, and condoning slavery, murder, genocide, and subjugation of women is an atrocious example of morality. We are lucky that most Christians do not live by the Bible, and we had better make sure that those who would rule by it do not ever get in positions where they can.
There is no credible evidence outside of the Bible (which proves itself to be unreliable) that its "savior" Jesus Christ ever lived, much less had the extraordinary powers attributed to him. So that means the whole Christian religion is based on a false premise, a lie, which we are admonished to accept, under penalty of eternal punishment, as fact. That comes pretty close to extortion, and is not a very good opening for something claiming to be the standard for morality.
A major tenet of the Christian religion--that because of a mythical event in the dim past we are all born in "sin," and that someone had to suffer a horrible death so that we can be "redeemed" by believing this BARBARIC, INHUMANE idea--is a moral outrage. Another one, that a person can spend a lifetime creating misery in this world, then "repent" and live happily forever in another one, while someone else whose life was devoted to bettering the human condition but who cannot believe illogical nonsense will be eternally tortured, is a travesty of any concept of justice.
The religious notion of reliance on an imaginary "outside power" is the root of all sorts of problems, some of them quite serious. Children have died because their parents, trusting in "god," withheld medical treatment that could have saved their lives. That's not only immoral that's CRIMINAL. Religion tells us we are inherently evil and helpless, which certainly doesn't do much to promote self-esteem. Religion fought the use of anesthetics on the ground that suffering is "god's will" and must therefore be endured; it has defended wars and unwanted births on the same grounds. Anyone claiming these to be moral concepts has to be kidding.
Historically, religion has opposed anything that conflicts with its fables, no matter how well-supported the evidence. The evolution/creation conflict, which should have been settled with the Scopes "monkey" trial, shows how many religionists today continue to think in the same myopic way. This is basically a put-down of the human mind, our most valuable asset and the one thing separating us from all other animals. It is an immoral, anti-human concept.
Christianity teaches that knowledge is to be avoided, that questioning is wrong, that doubting is sinful, and that the right thing to do is to believe without evidence, on "faith." This is another put-down of the intellect, a sure route to gullibility, and a perfect tool for tyrants.
The Christian doctrine that humans are a special divine creation put here to have dominion over everything has made us oblivious of the fact that we are but a rather insignificant part of life on this planet, all of which is inter-dependent. It has led us to be more conquerors than stewards, more plunderers than conservators. The "savior" myth has produced "Armageddon syndrome" which is threatening the entire species and possibly others as well. Far from being humble, these are arrogant, irresponsible, immoral beliefs.
To say religion is the source o f morals is to ignore the facts. The more highly-evolved mammals have all developed behavioral codes that enable them to live together in groups with relative harmony; the larger the group, the more strict are the rules (this is also true in human society). Lions hunt together in mutual respect, as do wolves, and they develop a hierarchy that helps them survive. Even ants have a certain amount of what we might call moral behavior. Morality is not exclusive with religion, and certainly not with Christianity. Moral precepts are far older and come from life in the real world; they have survival value. Social conscience exists for utilitarian reasons and is the result of thousands of years of experience--it's just plain "good business." Belief or non-belief in the God concept has nothing to do with it. People who credit their good behavior go God are short-changing themselves. They would be more honest, and give their self-esteem a boost, if they gave credit where it is due: to themselves.
What are called God's laws are in fact HUMAN laws. Some of them have practical value in the functioning of society (these long predate Christianity), some have at one time been useful but no longer are, others never did have practical value, and some are so cruel and abhorrent that it is decidedly unflattering to acknowledge their human origin.
As for the claim that our civil laws come from the Christian religion, Thomas Jefferson said that U.S. common law was derived from the Anglo-Saxons while they were still pagan "when they had never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced." The U.S. Constitution was NOT founded by Christians. The founders were mostly Deists, many of whom took an extremely dim view of Christianity.
Religion in intellectually dishonest and immoral because it teaches as fact things for which it has no credible evidence, while at the same time attempting to hide the actual facts which provide the only realistic basis for dealing with our situation. It is basically an instrument of denial and deception, explaining nothing and solving no problems, and is for all practical purposes USELESS. If, as claimed, it is the basis for morality, then after several thousands of years of such widespread practice of it we should no longer need locks, police, or prisons. Instead, we always seem to need more of them. And the ratio of religious believers to atheists in prisons has been found to be considerably higher than in the general population.
In spit of all this, most of the religious people I've known have been reasonably decent folk. But so have the atheists. Where does THEIR morality come from? The same place that of good Christians comes from--their own conscience, their desire to just "get along." The difference is that the atheists can freely acknowledge this; they don't have to give credit to a god. They are simply facing reality. And that's moral A very IMMORAL thing is the captivity and degradation of the human mind, and that has been the specialty of religion since its inception.
It is possible to be quite moral without being religious. It is also possible, as history proves to be quite religious without being moral.
