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“The God Delusion” and the question of morality

For those of you who have not read Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion,” I highly recommend that you run (don’t walk) to the nearest bookstore and buy the book. (In my personal opinion, it should be required reading in all schools.)

A rather amusing issue that Dawkins brings to the surface in his book is a common belief among theists that those who have no belief in God are morally delinquent, and that religious faith is the foundation for good, moral conduct. If this is so, then we must also believe that if a person were to lose his faith he would presumably go on a mad, sociopathic sinning-spree.

“If you agree that, in the absence of God, you would ‘commit robbery, rape, and murder’, you reveal yourself as an immoral person, ‘and we would be well advised to steer a wide course around you.’ If, on the other hand, you admit that you would continue to be a good person even when not under divine surveillance, you have fatally undermined your claim that God is necessary for us to be good.” - Richard Dawkins

It was discovered recently that the venerable Mother Theressa’s faith waned for quite a long period of time -yet, this did not interfere with her philanthropic work. Let us imagine the more typical, average religious person who accredits his virtuous behavior to his faith, and let us imagine him lose his faith for a day or so -or even a moment (a very common occurrence). What would this faithless person do when he suddenly finds himself without those religious restraints? Was his dedication to God the essential key to keeping his behavior in check? Did those religious restraints keep him from raping his daughter and snorting cocaine with the downtown prostitutes for all those years? Should we fear such a person as this when his faith turns shaky? Yes, we most certainly should fear such a person.

But, casual observation tells me that the typical faithless (whether temporarily or permanently) person does not set out to commit a crime or behave differently from the faithful in any significant way. At worst: he slips down a tunnel of self-loathing, which is the fault of his religious indoctrination that encourages self-loathing every Sunday, despite the integrity of its’ congregations’ faith.

As we have seen in the daily news (and in our experiences with others), religion most definitely does not prevent one from misbehaving or committing unlawful acts if they are already compelled to do so. We behave in the way we are compelled to, with or without religious convictions.

So, if moral behavior is not guided by religion, where do moral guidelines come from?

There are many theories about why mankind has moral sense and where these moral codes come from. I don’t believe it is all that complicated. “Do unto others as you would have done unto you,” “Scratch my back and i’ll scratch yours.” We know what makes us feel unhappy, fearful, violated, etc. and it only makes sense that we would make an effort to behave ourselves properly in our communities with the hope -and intent- that in return, those we interact with will give us the same courtesy. In a sense, our moral guidelines are “formulas” for the selfish purpose of living peaceably among others and for self-preservation. I say “selfish” because it all does boil down to selfishness. As with all animals, we are selfish in nature as a necessary trait for survival.

Be selfish.

Be good.