Religions are not the exclusive arbiters of morality

Morality is a pragmatic code of human conduct, devised from human experience, that allows us all to get on together with as little strife as possible. There are no rules except those agreed to from time to time for our safety and happiness. Do unto others as you would they would do unto you may have been put into the mouth of Jesus, but it is simply a piece of common sense. Self-interest and self-preservation ensure that, with exceptions, we all (most of the time) act morally and reasonably. Thus, one can be a moral person without being religious or subscribing to any one of the dozens of Christian, Moslem or other interpretations. We must rescue morality from the exclusive clutches of priests and pastors, muftis, mullahs and preachers. But having done that we have to teach our children right and wrong; they don’t spring from the womb immediately knowing how to behave. How are we dooing in this regard?

One Comment

  1. Its quite obvious to me that morality is an entirely subjective concept: were it as objective as the theists claim, then why are there so many different versions of religious morality? Within Christianity alone there are thousands of different denominations, and there are thousands of different religions. Surely a god who was interested in how his creation behaved, would set out a very clear moral code, that everyone would be sure of was true and everyone would have to abide by. Yet the divisions within theism on the most fundamental moral questions: abortion, homosexuality, extra marital relations, war- all show that when it comes to giving answers, religion is just as inconclusive as secular morality. The only difference is: the latter is honest about its subjectivity, the former is not.

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