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Quote by: The Bacon Guy  It’s fairly common argument that Christianity is responsible for some of the enduring values of the Western world. Theists will argue that the Ten Commandments are the basis for much of the law and morality in the civilized world. But is this the case, or has religion simply hijacked inherent moral values of mankind?
Let’s take the Ten Commandments. I would say most of them can be explained secularly. Honour thy mother and thy father can be explained by the fact that morality is generally imparted by the individual’s parents. Obviously it’s in parents’ interests to teach their kids to respect them.
Aversion to stealing and killing can be explained by the social nature of human beings. A society which promotes killing and stealing wouldn’t last long.
Thou shalt not commit adultery can be explained by the fact that we are hardwired to be jealous of potential competition when it comes to mating. Males because they want to be sure it’s their child that they’re providing for, and females because they need the male to provide for their child.
But it’s not just Christians who are guilty of making this argument. People on the other side of the fence will often claim that the uglier sides of the Bible, most notably homophobic bigotry, are responsible for the bigoted attitudes of many in society. However, this again can be explained by a natural characteristic of human beings, in this case, a tendency towards prejudice, á la Tajfel’s social identity theory.
So, does religion really create our values, or does it simply hijack them? |
The Mayans and countries where Buddhaism is popular, also have the equalivant of the Ten commandments, and such understanding is not unique to the religion of the God of Abraham. How do we understand this sameness of human consciousness? How about, human consciousness is shared by all of humanity, because of our common experience of being humans.
Much of our morality is based on survival needs shared with other social animals. While animals can not think abstractly, and therefore label and discuss morals, neither do we create them. We no more create morals than a life saving water pool in the middle of the desert. These things exist, and we only become aware of them. In ancient times, moral consciousness was understood as knowledge of universal law.
Going from what Winter Wind said, Socrates taught conscience is a matter of consciousness. We can know that of which we are not conscious, and we are not born all knowing, but our minds are blank slates full of potential. Mass moral education is essential to humanity achieving its full potential of goodness. Thomas Jefferson understood this and did his best to establish free public schools. This goes with believing democracy is a good thing, and it is secular.