Previous essays have discussed the fusion of religions and morality in multiple different ways. We have made the point that our religions and our morals have been tightly bound together in our societies, as if in a marriage. We have described that as a dysfunctional marriage, in which both partners are cheating on each other. Our religions are partially based on mythology, which shares remarkable commonality, but also varies from one sect to another. Morals based on these various religions and sects must, perforce, also vary from one sect to another. What is “right” is entirely different in each of these religious sects. Multiple differing “rights” lead to multiple conflicts. Our religions, each of them using the excuse of what is to them “right,” have been used as templates for expressions of jealousy, anger, greed and resentment. Those who fervently believe in these religions consider these violent acts, defending their particular set of myths, to be highly moral. They do so because each of these religions has, as a major part of their belief system, rabid intolerance for all people who do not share their particular faith. We have, in multiple ways, tried to explain that unless our morals are divorced from this religious intolerance, they will be expressed in these cruel ways, which will lead to our self-destruction as a species and the destruction of our planet home.
More needs to be said on this subject. It is not enough to make the case that much of our religions are based on mythology. It is not enough to say that we should support, with all the power we can muster, the morals of our religions, but decry with all that same power, the violent intolerance of our religions. It is not enough to broadcast the message to the world that our religions are schizophrenically bipolar, emphasizing both morality and rabid intolerance. It is not enough to clarify the relationship of our religions and morality as a dysfunctional marriage, which is in need of depth counseling or divorce. All of this leaves a cardinal, seminal question unanswered.”If our religious myths are not a sound basis for our moral judgments, what is the foundation we should use to judge what is fair, just, moral and ethical?
Let’s look again at the common myths that are shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and then examine what those myths are telling us. This common mythology system states that there is a Divine, all-powerful force that has created this universe. This God did so with a purpose in mind, so they say, and has a grand plan for this universe. This God, they say, is still creating, and includes humans as a major part of that grand plan. Not only are humans major players in wherever the universe is headed, but we were made by this Great Creator to look like Him, She or It. This identity with the Great God of the universe means that we are partly divine. We are also, in contradistinction to all other forms of life that now or ever existed on this planet, able to communicate with this Creator. If we plead with enough sincerity and urgency, our God, so they believe, will alter events and bend physical laws of the universe to make things happen on our behalf, against both animate and inanimate objects. This mythology states that its true believers (although the requirements vary greatly from one sect to another), will be granted a life after this life, which will be filled with pleasure for an eternity. This grand Creator, they say, is entirely good, and spends all of He, She or Its time fighting evil.
What does this combined mythology ask that we believe? It asks us to accept, without any doubt, that we are partly divine, with an appearance similar to the force or forces that began and control the entire universe. It asks us to believe that we are not bound by the physical laws of the universe, and can subvert them to our purpose whenever we do so with enough fervor. It tells us that if we play it right, we will live forever. It tells us that the prime force of the entire universe is something that is entirely good. In short, this mythology tells us that we are powerful, highly important creatures that are immortal, innately good, and in charge of the entire universe. Unfortunately, the human species has, up to this point in time, been stupidly gullible enough to believe these self-serving lies. It is doubtful that there is any worse belief system on which to establish judgments of right, wrong, fairness and justice. Yet this is precisely what we are doing.
It seems a grave mistake to believe that there is some powerful force or entity in the universe which is entirely good. We have no evidence of such. The best evidence we have is that good and evil rest only in the value system of humans, and have no place in the universe as a whole. The only care the universe has, if one can call that a care, is what life form adapts best to its environment. Those life forms that adapt the best are allowed to develop further, whereas those that do not adapt to whatever environment surrounds them are summarily dismissed to oblivion. We have so far found nothing to make us believe that we were put here on earth with a purpose in mind. Every scientific fact we have tells us that life began by chance four billion years ago, and has evolved since by natural selection, with absolutely no defined goal in mind. It seems absurd to believe that we have control over this vast universe. The universe does what it does through physical laws of chance, and will in due time eliminate us, our planet, and our solar system, without remorse. We appear greatly deluded to believe that there is a Creator who cares about us, and will intercede on our behalf. Whatever force created the universe, as far as we can tell, does not give a fig about humans or any other life form. While we may want to live forever, in pleasure, without stress, this seems quite insane. All the evidence we have is that we have only one precious life and only one chance to do something that will benefit those that live after us. There is no other life we have, to do something that is “right.”
Our egocentricity has gotten in the way of rational judgment. We have been making our right and wrong decisions based on this mythology that we are divinely important, highly powerful and immortal creatures. That certainly does not appear to be the case. As far as we can tell, we are insignificant creatures fighting for survival in a universe which is against us. We live only for a brief flash of time, because we are completely mortal. Our judgments as to good, evil, right, wrong, fairness and justice, are related only to human need, and have no place in the scheme of the universe. If we make our judgments, as we are now, based on belief in our mythology of human divinity, great potency, and immortality, we will make all those judgments in error. That is why we are committing these violent acts against each other and calling them “moral,” rather than recognizing them as suicidal. We will only make valid and compassionate judgments in our behavior toward each other when we understand that we are completely insignificant, at the mercy of the universe, and completely mortal. We have only one life, in one brief flash of time, to leave love, rather than hatred.