Obnoxious Bitch

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Udargo sums it up

Found in the comments on one of PZ Myers’ posts on Pharyngula, concerning Rabbi Avi Shafran’s assertion that atheists can’t be moral:

There’s something disturbing about these people who can’t comprehend how humans can be moral without fear of the “glaring cosmic policeman.”

And this perhaps shows us the true value of religion: There are a lot of people who need a belief in the glaring cosmic policeman to keep them in line. If Rabbi Shafran wasn’t a rabbi, he’d probably be a pretty scary dude. He’d be raping, pillaging and murdering, apparently.

And maybe some people will never be able to develop a more sophisticated moral awareness, based on empathy and respect for the truth (which I believe are the twin pillars of a healthy, adult morality). Maybe that’s why we do need religion. Maybe it does us more good than we realize.

I think this is actually what many of the Founding Fathers believed about the Christian religion. It was something necessary to keep those less philosophically sophisticated in line. Maybe they were right.

Posted by: udargo May 21, 2006 03:59 PM

Respect for the truth, and empathy… that’s what “morality” boils down to for me.  The only way to educate is to tell the truth, and the foundation of nearly every religion on earth is “treat others as you’d like to be treated.”

Not only does religion, and in particular Judeo-Christianity, require one to ignore certain truths, but by painting humans as inherently sinful beings’ whose only salvation lies in denying their natural biological instincts except under strict rules (say… sex exclusively within marriage), it fosters guilt and shame that leads to secrets and lies. In turn those “sins” or vices end up breeding entire subcultures where there are bound to be extremists. Not to mention entire families whose “history” is peppered with lies because someone was afraid of what the ladies at church would say about Grandpa’s “breakdown” or Aunt Sally’s unwed pregnancy.

The truth may not be pretty, or welcomed… in fact, it may be downright offensive or painful to hear.  But it’s infinitely more useful to have accurate information by which to live your life, and in the end spares you the unnecessary pain of having been deceived.  It’s not always the easiest or most comfortable course of action to tell the truth, either, and as cliche as it may be, honesty IS always the best policy.

Except of course, when listing one’s weight on her driver’s license