RELIGION AND MORAL BEHAVIOR

Out of good intentions or not, religion is largely an institution designed to control how others behave. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the ten commandments and The Bible serve as the pillar of moral code.

The ten commandments, which were supposedly authored by God and handed down to the prophet Moses say:

1. I am the Lord your God.
2. Thou shall have no other gods before me.
3. Thou shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and mother.
6. Thou shall not murder.
7. Thou shall not commit adultery.
8. Thou shall not steal.
9. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods.

These are words that all good Christians and Jews should know and remember. At quick glance, and ignoring the superstitions regarding “God,” the ten commandments themselves seem like worthy recommendations of good conduct. Indeed, religion is largely an institution that glorifies love and respect for everyone, and thus the messages of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are so permeating throughout our world and culture. In many ways the values held by Judaism and Christianity have even shaped the Western legal systems we have today (even despite modern day secularism in politics).

MORALITY IN THE NAME OF RELIGION

Moral actions that are done in the name of religion are a different story, and often not as desirable as the conduct that is promoted in The Bible. Human history has been littered with holy wars, killing and otherwise immoral behavior – all in the name of a supposed all-knowing and all-loving God.

Something just doesn’t add up. What is it about the teaching of religion that can lead people to do such heinous acts?

I have a couple possible explanations. For one, humans are by nature imperfect. Some of them may misunderstand the teachings of their religion. Another reason may be that heavy emotions like greed, lust and hate get the better of an individual despite their religious upbringing. But I also think there is more to it.

WHAT HAS GOD DONE TO HUMAN MORALITY?

Despite the imperfect nature of man, religion itself is a vastly imperfect and out-dated construct of the human mind and morality. I don’t believe the flaw in religious morality has to do with the literal teachings of good conduct, which seem mostly reasonable, but the problem is in the context that they are presented.

A large part of this context is centered around God. God, the almighty inconceivable, is very much the foundation of religious morality. Without His existence, the whole system seems to fall apart. Why? Because good conduct is supposed to get you to Heaven, and bad conduct is supposed to send you to Hell.

The problem with this view of reality is that we are only given an incentive to do good for our own well-being, and we are told to avoid bad to save ourselves from eternal damnation. In other words, religion teaches us very little about the natural good in our hearts, and instead uses bribing and fear in order to coerce us into “good.”

I have a huge problem with this.

These kinds of stories and folktales, mostly to do with God, create a moral foundation of superstition. Without a solid foundations of values and virtues grounded in reason and evidence, of course there is a stronger likelihood of individuals abandoning their value system, acting irrationally, and willing to hurt others for careless and selfish gains. This is one of the main drawback of any dogmatic system.

HOW CAN WE FREE OURSELVES FROM SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS?

I think the best advice for finding one’s morality is to first deny the artificial values of any code of conduct created by religion and society. Certainly one can use religious texts and the values of society as a reference point. But in the end it really comes down to our own mind and rational thought in determining our specific system of values. I can’t imagine that any other being can rightfully make these decisions for us.

Defining one’s system of values is not a simple process. In fact, it is a process that is ongoing for as long as we live and act. We never know when we will find ourselves in a situation where we have to make a tough moral decision. We can look to the word of God, or we can get advice from friends and society, but in the end it is only the individual that chooses the action and bares its consequences. Sometimes we make wrong decisions – this does not mean we will be damned to hell, only that we have gained a new experience to learn from. In this sense if we take responsibility for our actions and the effect we have on the world, then we can never fall in the hands of “the devil.” We only have our self to fail, succeed, and grow. In a way this take on morality puts us in a much greater position of power and change then the morality touted by the traditional religions of the world.

How often do atheists think about God? Perhaps an even more interesting question is – how much thought does a typical atheist give before denying the existence of God?

My reasons for asking aren’t intended to provoke a decision one way or another on if there is or is not a God. But I will admit something: I think about God quite a lot.

But my real question is – why wouldn’t you think about God?

I believe most of us are agnostic – meaning we all have different degrees of doubt in our beliefs about a God. Only the most devout atheists and most devout followers of religion can truthfully say they are fully confident in their beliefs regarding God.

But to be completely and fully confident in something where there is so much uncertainty seems deluding, and I believe it is even a suppression of one’s will to avoid thinking about God – regardless of which side of the fence he clings to.

I believe it is not only completely natural for a human to question the existence of a God (just as it is natural to question the meaning of life, why am I here, or what is good and evil), but mandatory for any healthy mind.

For one thing: there are so many aspects of God to question.

Before we can accept or deny the existence of something we must first try to find out and define what it is we are accepting or denying.

I will not go into what I believe a God is, as I am inclined to think that this is something better left for one’s own personal exploration and good judgment, and I don’t intend this article to favor either decision; I am only writing to decide what there even is to decide.

So first, we must ask ourselves, “What does the term ‘God’ mean to us?” This question is not something one can simply answer with ease.

We are constantly bombarded with various and conflicting ideas of what God is all the time. For this sole fact I find it important for any man to spend time unraveling the twists and knots of ideas in some measure of solitude, meditation, or prayer. This way we give the mind a fair chance to first define what is meant by “God” before rushing to any judgment on the concept of “God.”

Many people, due to the natural and ever-changing relations between mind and language, will likely have ill-defined Gods. At times we may believe God is always loving, yet other times we think God is punishing us. Sometimes the existence of God depends on our mood, what we want, or how fortunate our lives have been recently.

Others believe God is a metaphysical or supernatural force, as true in the eyes of many organized religions. While others, who may look at God from a more scientific, skeptical, or unorthodox point of view may play with the idea that God is nature and physical law, or God exists only as a symbol in society’s collective unconscious, or God is a feeling of happiness and appreciation.

For many, our Gods are probably mixtures of these things depending on our personalities.

When it comes to God, we must all be philosophers. Only through a sense of introspection and meditation can we clearly define our terms, beliefs, and reasons for these beliefs. Beliefs are often very flexible things that can change depending on one’s experience and perception. But beliefs are especially flexible when we don’t take the time to come up with our own personal “concrete” fundamentals and reasons for why we think the things we do (whether it is about God or anything else). And do these beliefs make sense from a rational or from an emotionally or spiritually satisfying way?

There is no one strategy to go about defining God. Every individual will have his own mode of thinking, some more consistent than others, some more critical, while others more flexibly and freely. We can think about God however we want. We can take a practical approach or dogmatic approach or even the approach of avoiding the topic altogether.

But if there is only one valid point I make throughout this writing then I hope it is that: God is worth thinking about. Call it prayer. Call it meditation. Call it science. Call it whatever you want, but don’t be afraid to let it occupy the mind. Don’t be afraid to change beliefs, even just for the sake of changing perspective, even to just end up going back to a firmer position on the beliefs you already had. Get a feel for God, what you want it to be, or what you may call ‘God’. It’s food for the mind and makes it strong. Thinking about God is often a pleasant and rewarding experience no matter what conclusion you reach, or even if you end up choosing to never use the word again.