In short to this heavily debated question, yes. Morality is certainly possible without religion. Just the mere fact of humans living together for many tens of thousands of years in hunter-gather groups with reciprocally accepted codes of conduct and peaceful (though not always) trade between tribes and chiefdoms before the introduction of the main monotheistic religions, to name a few, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, supports this claim. Albeit, their moral actions and values would not be acceptable in the times we live in today, but as clans developed into tribes and then bigger tribes, and then into chiefdoms and then onto fully fledged cities and so on, so did humanity with rules, specified occupations, laws and army’s for protection. To claim that morality is only attributable by divine intervention and religious guidance is not only an absurd sophistry, as a means for control and indoctrination, but a complete disservice to the evolution of humanity. Throughout history and right up to present times, religion has been at the heart of many (but not all) massacres, wars, questionable moral standpoints and segregation, which begs the question, what makes you think religion is virtuous?
This is not to say that many great things have not come out of religion and faith - It has been shown in countless studies that being part of a faith-based community does indeed have a positive impact on ones happiness. Furthermore, it gives you a sense of belonging and community, it gives one like-minded people and friends to help in times of need, encourages charity, and undoubtedly gives people a sense of meaning and determination through the toughest things life can throw at you. Not to mention the magnificent buildings, architecture and literature that has arisen precisely from religions across the globe and influenced so much of today. This, I have no quarrel with. I take issue with the feeble remark that without religion, there would be no morals - that if you were to subtract religion from the equation, there’d be nothing but barbaric feuds and complete ethical negligence. That humanity would somehow break down into complete hysteria and a world like today would be, not only unimaginable, but unattainable.
If religious morality, as it is so commonly posed, was indeed the backbone of society today, we would not see open acceptance to queer communities and freedom of expression, let alone gay marriages within the Church of England; the notion that women could have rights in and out of the home, let alone have the privilege to vote and work and marry who they’d like would be unheard of; to no fault or benefit of your own, be born into a tyrannical class system governing the prospects of one’s life; to even imagine a society dearth of slavery and just oppression would be a stretch to far for previous believers. Are these examples and the many more that follow to be included within the lists of morals religions proclaim, or are we to pick and choose which parts we ought to accept? - (I’m sure I need not say more on the dangers associated with picking and choosing parts of religious belief to practice and enforce!).
Delving a little deeper into the subject of the divine, if morals do derive from religion which indeed is part of the creators creation, be that the holy trinity, Allah or many other Gods, then they surely have to be answerable to many of the monstrosities that occur in the name of religion. I can almost hear the mutters through the screen - “people have interpreted the texts incorrectly” or “you’ve taken it out of context” or even better “that’s not a matter of God or the texts, homo-sapients are inherently bad/immoral - they’re not the true believers”. But why would the omniscient, omnipotent, omibenevolent and all-merciful God not only advocate, but demand such evil and cruelty to be part of religion? For centuries, people have fought countless war in the name of religion which led to women being raped, children killed and societies brought to the ground - and all this, not even for the disbelief in God, but the worship of the wrong one. Would the Lord not be obliged to intervene and stop this blatant evil in its tracks? I mean, I’m not standing up for the classic ‘Bad God’ debate held by many atheists, but you can see where they’re coming from!
To conclude, I want to again point out the many good things to have come out of religion, but to say that without it there would be no morals, is not only a grave mistake, but is dangerously naive. Of course, humans have there flaws. There is evil in the world, there are people that act as if they have no moral compass (or it is severely defective!), but that is not to say that any good deed or well behaved citizen has derived their just acts from the Bible, Quran, Holy Vedas, or Torah alike. One with no knowledge of religion, its philosophies or its teachings most definitely has the ability to be moral and act courteously. A man giving up his seat on the underground for a woman (who happens not to be pregnant) is not down to religion or laws or even social norms in this day and age (you’d struggle to see this in rush hour) but because he wants to be kind and respectful. To say that someone cannot be capable of acts like this without religion is utterly dogmatic and untrue. “Which is it: is man one of God’s blunders, or is God one of man’s blunders?” - Friedrich Nietzsche; the more I read this quote and ponder on the issue of morality, the more the latter rings true.
Curious Minds Make Interesting People.
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