I was thinking about the foundation of all monotheistic
theology; the Judgment. The part of
religion where it is stated that there are some strict Moral rules in the
universe, enforced (either passively or actively) by God and at the end of life
you will be judged according to these rules.
Does there exist some Great Moral Order that is outside the
universe and could only come from God? The Catholic church teaches that
morality is not found in nature, animals have no 10 commandments and simply
follow their natural instincts for survival.
In his book
Mere
Christianity,
C. S. Lewis argued that "conscience reveals to us
a moral law whose source cannot be found in the natural world, thus pointing to
a supernatural Lawgiver."
Basically, conscience makes people act in a manner that
sometimes goes against their own interests. This is unnatural and can only come
from God.
I disagree with this argument. For the simple reason that we
need not look outside nature to find morality. It is present in any social
organism from monkey troupes to dolphin pods.
When evolution came up with a social organism it HAD to
create natural laws to govern the social interaction between those organisms,
otherwise the social order that allowed the organism to thrive would break
down. Meaning that for any animal to survives in a highly ordered group, like
say a pack of wolves, they must be programmed to naturally put the survival of
the group above that of the individual (in certain circumstances). For example,
many adults coming together to protect younger ones from a predator. Any one of
the adults might be injured or even killed in the attack but it is far better
for the Social unit (pack, pride, herd ,flock) to lose one adult than to lose
the young. This would be considered a moral act (For there is no greater
sacrifice than to lay down one's life for another) but it is visible everyday
on the savannah.
Humans are social organisms, evolved from social organisms.
The very same mechanisms that are at work on a band of gorillas are at work on
us as well. We are pushed to put the welfare of our society ahead of individual
interest in certain circumstances. That is simple evolution.
In fact I believe that it is possible to substitute the term
"Moral" with the phrase "good for human civilization as a
whole" and "immoral" with "bad for human civilization as a
whole" . Why do we not kill? because it would be bad for human
civilization as a whole if everyone started killing each other. Why do we not steal? because it would be bad
for human civilization as a whole if everyone started stealing from each
other...etc
Let's have a look at the 10 commandments (King
James Version) and see whether it is necessary for them to
have come from outside nature. Or are they simply a very concise list of things
that ANY society of social organisms must adhere to in order to survive?
1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Assuming none of these were divine revelations,
this is easily explained as a way to preserve the Jewish religion. That it
comes first should be a clue as to the aim of the whole document.
2.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Again, another way of preserving the Jewish
religion. At the time that this was written all competing faiths used Statues
and Idols to symbolize their Gods. This was the Jews way of setting themselves
apart. Notice the dire threats from the "loving" God.
3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
name in vain.
Another Jewish practice. No Objective morality here.
4.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the
seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Another Jewish practice. No Objective morality here.
5.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee.
A simple way to ensure that the old are cared
for by the young, in order to provide leadership and stability in society even after
they have grown too old to do physical labor. Elephants have been seen to do
this.
6.
Thou shalt not kill.
A no brainer. Any society, even insects that
don't obey this rule within their society, die out. There is no way to preserve
a society without a taboo on killing each other.
7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
For any animal that mates for life (as humans
naturally do) preserving that union and its offspring is very important to the
society. The family unit becomes the smallest unit in the social order. In the
case of man, adultery causes the natural feelings of jealousy and often sparks
violence among members of a society. This is of course counterproductive to the
continuance of that society therefore it is considered "immoral"
8.
Thou shalt not steal.
Any society that does not respect private
property shall descend into anarchy immediately. This is especially true for
humans. even pirates respect the rights of ownership of other pirates in their
group, if they did not, the group would cease to exist.
9.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
This comes down to trust. The members of one
society should be able to trust each other if they are to survive times of
hardship. Without trust then there is no safety, without safety in numbers
there is no society. It is implicit even
in a pride of lions. A female can trust her young to another female of the
pride. Trusting that she will not simply abandon or eat them.
10.
Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour's.
This ties into the rights of private ownership. In this case it deal with a
problem that plagues humans and most higher primates, also some birds. That of
jealousy. a human will grow jealous of
another's possessions, the next step to that is to seek to acquire said
possession by theft if necessary. Theft can lead to violence and violence to
anarchy. It may also say something about Jewish society that they required so
many commandments dealing with theft or the desire to steal.
What this shows is that there is no inherent GOODNESS in the
10 commandments. They are simply laws that are (somewhat) required for any
human society to survive. Or any animal society for that matter.
These commandments were not aimed at some higher reward, but
to help ensure the stability of humanity right here on earth. These are things
ANY ruler would require of he was to keep his kingdom going.
And what is the best
way to give these rules authority? Say they are from God and unchallengeable.
Furthermore morality is EVOLUTIONARILY REQUIRED for the
development of a social organism. Morals and sense of "right" and
"wrong" are natural laws engraved upon our genes, like height, skin
colour etc. They need no outside source in order to exist.
So if Morality and conscience does not require an ever watchful, judging God in order for them to exist. What does that say about Christian
theology? what then, is the point of it all?
