encoded notions

You don’t need to subscribe to any religious doctrine to get by in life. Some people refute that statement with the argument that religion creates a base of morality and accountability. They say that if you are without a religion then you are free to go about your merry way doing whatever you want.

Where is it written that morality requires religion? Morality is about right and wrong. It’s about doing whatever you want as long as you don’t interfere with freedom to follow that same approach to life. Good and bad, right and wrong are arbitrary assignments of labels to concepts. Things labeled ‘right’ and ‘good’ are things that lubricate the social gears. Being friendly and helping each other out are considered to be right and good things to do. These types of behavior foster a sense of community among groups of people. Hurting or killing others and stealing are considered to be wrong and bad things to do. These behaviors are detrimental to society since they breed distrust and fear in people. What it boils down to is that morality is a form of social common sense.

There is a distinct difference between religious morality and general morality, though they may promote similar behaviors. The good-bad metric for general morality is roughly determined by humanity as a whole and is enforced through a system of laws. The same scale for religious morality is determined by whatever doctrine you follow and is enforced (typically) by some sort of post-life threat. To the religious, general morality may seem like a cold, straightforward scale that can vary with the ebb and flow of sociocultural norms. To the non-religious, religious morality’s scale may seem to be set in stone employing only “scare-tactics” to enforce.

There is nothing wrong with either approach to morality. General morality is a logical approach to dealing with other people. Most people want to get along with the rest of the people on this planet. Knowing this, if everyone acts in their best interests then the best course of action is to not do things you wouldn’t want done to you. Religious morality arrives at the same “golden rule” via an alternate chain of reasoning. Their reasoning is that everyone wants to enjoy the afterlife, but there is a prerequisite for this: you have to follow a fixed set of rules of behavior. One of those rules is the “be nice to others.” As long as everyone’s playing along, then everyone gets to enjoy the afterlife. Religion in this sense is a clever trick for getting everyone to behave themselves.

What is wrong is to assume that there is no such thing as general morality. With that kind of mindset, you presume that humans could never interact with each other sensibly unless governed by an external set of rules and guidelines. People who think that have no faith in the human race.