Why Morality? Mortality.

Happy Passover & Happy Easter.

I read an innerestin article over there to the Newsweek what was writ by a rabbi.

In the article Rabbi Marc Gellmen writes:

Sam's response to the mystery of meaning is to try to hold onto the absolute
moral judgments born of Rick's and my faith while not allowing the God who both
birthed and sustained that moral truth. This, plus Sam's personal desire for a
kind of rational spirituality, as well as the massive empirical evidence of
religious altruism—which he admits—versus the admittedly thin record of well
known atheistic altruism all leads me to believe that Sam Harris may well
understand deep down that ditching God is not remotely like ditching Zeus.

He makes it look like he gives credence to both sides of the fight, but in fact is still putting down the case for atheism. It seems like this is a never ending cycle because there is ultimately a flaw with the big question of philosophy: "What is the meaning of life?"

The fault of any who try to use the argument that morality requires God automatically assume that there must be meaning to life. But why must there be meaning? Just because we want meaning does not make it a requirement for life to exist. We create the meaning ourselves, just like we create an economy. It is our own perception that makes it real. It doesn't make it a universal truth.

Specifically, the Rabbi assumes that it must be an external force which drives altruism, but we see a kind of selfless concern through much of the animal kingdom as well. Why does a mother bird defend her young? Why is there a sentry among a murder of crows? Why does a dog defend its master or pack? These are suvival instincts to be sure, but these actions may put the individual in danger which goes against self-preservation. Maybe it's because they want to go to Heaven. Yeah, probably not.

As much as there is "massive empirical evidence of religious altruism," there is also massive evidence for wars based on religious intolerence. We are defenders of our own kind by feeling a need to save other humans, but we also will be quick to kill others of the human gene if we feel they threaten our way of life (the future of our clan). It all comes down to primitive survival instincts. Humans cannot live alone and are compelled to save our own kind in order to preserve our species, but at the same time we are not above bashing each others brains out for a piece of land in the name of God or getting into a fight over a sports team to prove that "We're number one!" I get tired of hearing about religious altruism when it is in fact based on instict. It's a piece of the brain that does it. Come on! It's in my class notes. We talked about this two weeks ago!

Personally, I see a belief in the afterlife as being counterproductive to morality. "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out," is something I've heard before. The problems in the Middle East are ultimately about oil, but could anybody really allow themselves to be killed if they believed there was no Heaven? After all, "There are no athiests in foxholes." This was what John Lennon was trying to say with his song, "Imagine." If one is sure that this is the only shot we get, he's less likely to march off into the line of fire. And with the natural tendency to feel the pain of others (who doesn't wince when they see the guy get hit in the nuts on America's Lamest Home Videos?), I couldn't imagine killing another person. Somehow it's usually the Chritian Conservatives who argue with me that capital punishment is necessary. Yet it goes against everything that Christ taught. Go figure!

I cannot prove God does not exist anymore than anyone can prove that He does exist. Except in that He does not exist, even if He does exist, at least as far as we know the exististance of those things which exist.

Or something.

What I mean to say is if there is a God, he is not within the plane of existance we know as "reality."

I believe what I don't believe because I believe that it is more likely that Man created God than that God created Man. And science, though endlessly digging through the ever complex problems (AND mysteries) of our being, has already found enough solutions to satisfy my curiousity and begin what I consider the death of philosophy. I don't wonder about the existance of God anylonger for the same reason I don't contemplate the existance of Santa and the Easter Bunny. But just like them, He is an icon that will always have some meaning for me. Communication, myths and beliefs are still important to us because we need each other and, let's face it, reality isn't always so great.

I know that without religion, the Rabbi would be out of a job, so I wouldn't take away from him his right to believe even if I could, but I can't stand the attitude that somehow I'm missing knowledge or in denial just because I don't believe in God.

Anyway, go paint some eggs and eat a hollow rabbit. I'm headed to happy hour at Heather's tonight.

...

And I'm also adding the corrected text from Love & Death because I got it a little wrong last time:

Sonja: Let’s say that there is no god and each man is free to do exactly as he chooses. What prevents you from murdering somebody?
Boris: Well, murder is immoral.
Sonja: Immorality is subjective.
Boris: Yes, but subjectivity is objective.
Sonja: Not in any rational scheme of perspective.
Boris: Perspective is irrational; it implies immanence.
Sonja: But judgment of any system or a priori relation of phenomenae exists in any rational or metaphysical or at least epistemological contradiction to an abstract and empirical concept such as being, or to be, or to occur, in the thing itself or of the thing itself!
Boris: Yeah, I’ve said that many times.