Morality

“Without God, what’s to stop you from killing people?” It’s an interesting concept that almost every theist asks an atheist. The logic is that god gave the Ten Commandments to give us morality. Without that morality, we would have anarchy. Now any rational person knows this is utter nonsense. What happened before the Ten Commandments? Why are certain crimes absent from the Decalogue? Most importantly, honestly, what would the world be like without the Ten Commandments?

Let’s start with the pre Ten Commandments era. Contrary to popular American belief, the Ten Commandments weren’t the first attempt at laws. Tribal leaders needed a common set of rules to maintain order. Laws against theft and murder were common. Laws listing prices soon occurred to stop price gouging. All of this while people thought the sun was a god and earthquakes were a punishment. These laws existed in all parts of the world thousands of years before Moses. In fact, Moses probably got the idea for many of the commandments from the Egyptians. Assuming of course that Moses existed, which is debatable. So the idea of laws were by no means new. If we didn’t have anarchy before the Ten Commandments, why would we have anarchy afterwards?

Next we come to the missing laws. Why isn’t rape mentioned in the Ten Commandments? Why isn’t slavery? In fact, slavery is PROMOTED in the Bible. God encourages it, and even gives laws defining the treatment of slaves (Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6, many more). If a man rapes a virgin, AND HE IS CAUGHT, he has to marry her (Deuteronomy 22:28-29). It doesn’t mention what happens if she’s not a virgin or he’s not caught. Still, god doesn’t seem to have a problem with slavery or rape, as long as it’s done the proper way. Don’t get me started on child abuse. God commanded the Israelites to stone disobedient children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Exodus 21:15-17, and more). Spare the rod, spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24). Then there’s the genital mutilation part that was commanded by god (Genesis 17:12-13). Clearly, god is the poster child of morality. Like that part about giving mankind freewill, but then not liking how we used it so he drowned everyone.

So what would the world be like without the Ten Commandments? Now to be fair, not all of the Ten Commandments are unnecessary. Sure, the first four are. Thou shalt not kill? Totally fine with that one. Though I would change the word to “murder”, just like those who advocate war do. *cough*evangelicals*cough* Thou shalt not steal? Perfectly reasonable. Thou shalt not lie? Great law. Keeping the Sabbath, honoring your parents, and the coveting commandments? Pure control.

First, the Sabbath is stupid. Sure, everyone should have days off, but it should be for health reasons, not religious reasons. Plus, Jews celebrate it on Saturdays but Christians celebrate it Sundays, so which did god want?

Honoring your parents is utterly ridiculous. The great George Carlin said it best. “Respect is earned, not given. It should be based on the parent’s performance. Some parents deserve respect, most of them don’t.” If your parents were good people, and they have earned your respect, then great. Feel free to honor them as much as you like. My parent’s didn’t. And there shouldn’t be a law to force me to feel respect for people who don’t deserve it.

The coveting laws are just silly. They prohibit THINKING about crimes that were previously mentioned earlier. Thought crimes are not crimes. So let’s just skip them.

So let’s say we don’t have the Ten Commandments. We still need laws. Based on the number of people who believe in a god, I’d say we as humans are too stupid to control ourselves. From whence shall these laws come? To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, our laws should be based on discussion and oddly enough, intelligent design. I really think the Golden Rule is a brilliant foundation for a moral structure. Add to that empathy, and you have a great jumping off point. Instead of being good because of what an invisible entity wants, let’s create a system based on the consequences. Don’t murder, because you don’t want someone to murder you. Don’t steal, because you don’t want someone to steal from you. Don’t lie, because you don’t want someone to lie to/about you. Don’t rape someone because you don’t want to be raped. Don’t have slaves because you don’t want to be a slave. It’s really simple, and you don’t need god for it. You could even take a step back from it, and focus on others instead of yourself. Don’t rape because you don’t want your daughter or your sister or your friend to be raped.

I’ve often said, and firmly think, that I am MORE moral than religious people. I try to be good for the sake of being good to people. Religious people are good, because they are afraid of being punished and want to go to heaven. I do not expect a reward. I do not worry about punishment. I do good things, and avoid bad things, because they are good or bad. Because I try to put myself in my “victim’s” shoes. What would the world be like if everyone acted this way?

Better.