Tuesday, July 02, 2019
How religious belief can affect morality
There are various ways in which religion affects our moral conduct, that go beyond the specific teachings of a religion. Religious belief supports the idea of an inherent purpose to human existence, and the idea that in the end justice will be served. This is supported either by a belief in a final judgment or in a belief in some kind of law of karma, which in Eastern religion governs reincarnation. Some people believe in a law of karma that governs our earthly life, but that doesn't work perfectly. The simple fact is, that in this world, people can commit murder, get away with it, and be happy about it. On this matter, watch atheist filmmaker Woody Allen's movie Crimes and Misdemeanors. The belief in an inherent purpose and the belief in ultimate justice, either through karma or through a final judgment, provide energy for the moral enterprise of many persons. I'm not saying you can't be moral without them, but for a lot of people, they sure help. When we think about religion and morality, we think about specific teachings, but there is more to it that.
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David Bentley Hart argues that Christianity elevated human dignity and transformed pagan society:
Human Dignity was a Rarity before Christianity.
He goes into more detail in his book, Atheist Delusions.
The belief in an inherent purpose and the belief in ultimate justice, either through karma or through a final judgment, provide energy for the moral enterprise of many persons. I'm not saying you can't be moral without them, but for a lot of people, they sure help. When we think about religion and morality, we think about specific teachings, but there is more to it that.
As Augustine said:
“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.”
People were made for a purpose whether they realize or not. That's why they may achieve what they set out for, but feel empty at reaching the goal if it's not the real thing.
The simple fact is, that in this world, people can commit murder, get away with it, and be happy about it.
The simple fact is, being religious does nothing to change this.
A happy and safe 4th of July to all.
I went to my hometown parade down Main Street and watched all the fire engines roar past, then all the school bands, and floats from all the local businesses (plus the Shriners in their little go karts). Then went home to a dinner of BBQ ribs and pasta salad. No fireworks for me, though. Stayed home watching Humphrey Bogart in Sahara (1943), while the rest of the family went out to see them.
I might just make Bogart a 4th of July tradition from now on!
What is it with the Shriners and the go karts?
Must be part of their plot to take over the world, but I can't figure out how the karts play into it.
Well, they must be well into Phase 2 of their Grand Plan. In this parade, they had converted their go karts into miniature big rigs, complete with sound effects. My 2 year old grandson was outside himself with delight! (He's obsessed with trucks and heavy equipment. Don't tell me there's no innate difference between girls and boys! His 6 year old sister is all into mermaids, rainbows, and unicorns.)
Ha! It's only a matter of time now.
And I think only people who are unfamiliar with small children think they are blank slates without innate tendencies or personalities from the get go.
Norman Geisler RIP
The simple fact is, that in this world, people can commit murder, get away with it, and be happy about it.
But sometimes they think they got away with it but not in the end. Sometimes the bad guys get caught and expose a whole lot of other bad guys along with them.
Amen.
Some years back, I tried to compile a list of "great art" that was explicitly atheist. I don't mean art made by atheists, but art that was about atheism, in the same way that most Renaissance was about Christianity. High on my list was the movie Crimes and Misdemeanors, directed by Woody Allen. In that film, the main character "gets away with murder" and (eventually) does not even feel bad about it.
But interestingly enough, even the genius of Woody Allen could not disguise the fact that his character, at the end of the movie, was but a shell of his former self - a half man, as it were. One felt sorry for him for not feeling sorry for himself. In fact, the last scene of the movie is truly horrifying, like you're watching a corpse move about and speak. As Solzhenitsyn wrote, great art will speak the truth despite the artist's intentions. Woody Allen may well have intended to show that morality was "all in the mind" and that evil was an illusion, but he ended up demonstrating the exact opposite.
Maybe Allen's intention was to show the working of moral psychology and its interaction with religious teaching. Wasn't the main character brought up in Judaism? Very much 'all in the mind'.
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