The great beauty of our religions is that they emphasize and teach us morals. They are not just concerned with our concepts of what or who began the universe, what the characteristics of this great force are, and what the plans are for us as a species. They are also deeply concerned about the implications of those God beliefs in our lives. What do our religious beliefs mean in relationship to our daily lives? What are the guidelines our God or Gods are giving us as we deal with each other? We are all individuals, each with slightly different approaches to life and needs in life. Yet we find ourselves banding together, so that we can all benefit, if we work with each other. Mountains can be moved if we all pitch in to do our part. What are the rules to go by when we are each seeking our own space and our own sustenance? What is right and wrong in our lives? What are the correct degrees of regard we should have for each other? What are the rules, or ethics, that guide all humans at all times, regardless of which religion, race or nation they claim. These are weighty questions indeed, and our religions have stepped to the plate to face those issues squarely.
Judaism makes morality very simple. The followers of this faith have a direct relationship with their God, and a covenant with their God. They spend their whole lives trying to live within the expectations of their God. Their whole goal in life is to please their God. This means living up to His moral standards. Their God is described as clothing the naked, nursing the sick, comforting the mourners and burying the dead. Those of the Jewish faith are expected to show the same values in their lives. “As He is righteous so be you righteous. As He is holy, strive to be holy.” They not only expect to live their lives in these moral ways, but they believe all others should also show these morals in their lives. Judaism believes it should set an example of this morality for the rest of the world.
Christianity takes the base provided for it by Judaism and ups the ante in morality. It fully accepts the premises that God is good and that we should all try to emulate that goodness in our lives. Christianity relates multiple examples of how their hero, Jesus, was a champion of morality in his life and teachings. He told those who were without sin to cast the first stone. He told the woman who had sinned to not sin again. He fed the multitude when they were hungry. He cured the sick and raised the dead back to life. And then there is this magnificent passage in Mathew 22: “One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?’ Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.’” Although this sentiment has been expressed by many prophets of all religions, throughout the centuries, it has never been said any better by anyone, anywhere. There are no other rules we need in our lives to lead a moral life.
Islam, not to be outdone, takes the obligation for morality in our lives even one step higher. Although Islam builds on the mythology of Judaism and later Christianity, and even though it has the most outlandish mythology of the three religions of Abraham, it nevertheless is the most demanding of these three religions as to the need for morality in the lives of its believers. There are five pillars in Islam: Faith, Prayer, Fasting, Alms and Pilgrimage. One cannot be a Muslim and go to their supposed Heaven for an eternity unless there has been an earnest attempt to fulfill these five pillars. Of most note, in this discussion, is the requirement that alms giving is a requirement of this religion. A true Muslim will always give to those in need to the best of his ability. His God and his prophet require it of him and of her. Their will be no Heaven and no eternal life, unless the Muslim has provided for the poor, cared for the lame, the cripple, the widow, the orphan, and invited the traveler to his table. This is a marvelous moral program which we all should follow, in all religions.
Yet there is a terrible dark side to the morality of these religions. That dark side is fully expressed in our world today, leading to violent intolerance, bombings, invasions, beheadings, torture and mass executions. That is because our religions of Abraham are highly bipolar. They have this marvelous pole of ethics and morals, but on the other pole, have this terrible intolerance of al those who do not believe as they do. They not only believe that those humans who have different faiths should be shunned, because they are not going to their make-believe Heaven for an eternity, but also deserve to be punished for their disbelief, or infidelity. Israel believes that they should invade and bomb their surrounding neighbors, because those neighbors do not recognize their self-chosen status as the only chosen race of the only God. Christians believe that they are obliged to kill or invade all those people who resist their missionary and economic invasion of the rest of the world. Muslims believe that they are obligated to kill all those who threaten their religion. It is not the morality of our religions that gets us into trouble. It is the intolerance expressed by these religions for all those who do not share their particular mythology. That punishment for those who do not share their faith is severe. That punishment is destructive of the entire human species. That stupid punishment exists only because we use our religious myths as an excuse to justify our motives of greed and jealousy. That punishment, based on religious fallacies and fantasies, is a terrible misconduct of human behavior.