Morality

Cheguevara 

There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. (Albert Einstein, The Religiousness of Science) 

Morality is not the property of religion or religious leaders. Morality is relative, subjective and collective notions of right and wrong that develops naturally. It varies from culture to culture, society to society and from era to era. It exists in non-human societies too, as recent studies on primates show. It varies from culture to culture and from one time to another. 

The morality of religion is a fixed, rigid and a stagnant and absolute set of rules, given by some ancient tyrants (preachers and rulers) who wanted to have their way, added to some morality peculiar to some culture of a bygone era and fixed place. This is imposed on others through time with the bluff of divine authority or other means. 

Purely unique religious rules that have no relevance to morality such as drinking of alcohol or eating pork or beef are pushed as part of morality. This is done either directly by using divine authority or indirectly by justifying it using questionable logic, which is the modern practice. These and other rules that encourage slavery, genocide and degradation of women are the rules added by the tyrants who are elevated to demi-gods by followers. It is a piggyback ride. The rules of the religious leaders are placed with existing notions of right and wrong, which are more generally accepted, and packaged into one divine morality system. It is a �take it all or you are immoral� deal. 

This imposition by force or divine blackmail is done even if that set of morality is incongruous to the reality of the culture and time period on which it is being imposed. For example, imposing the hijab on some tribe whose members do not even wear clothes would be such a case. Declaring dating to be immoral in a country like the US and stoning to death of a girl who goes on a date with a guy she likes would be another. (A Muslim cleric while driving by a bar and watching scantily clad girls walk around with guys made some scarey remarks.) 

Some society might have a very different idea of right and wrong but a conquering religion would oust their ideas labeling them as wrong to evil. The divine authoritarians claim to �improve� and �civilize� the society of �savage and immoral� people by imbuing the people with their �morality�. The only result of the imposition, however, is a destruction of an unique culture. Imposition of one culture�s morality on another is cultural genocide. 

For example, there is a matriarchal tribal society in China, where there are no fixed marriages and women and girls have sex with different male partners as per their choice. In fact, marriage and fixed relationships are considered immoral there. Their system makes sense of ownership and jealousy irrelevant. If Islam, Christianity, or some other preachy religion somehow conquered them through missionary work or other means, they would surely impose marriage laws on them. They would end the no marriage system, which works very well for the tribe by declaring the Christian or Muslim morality to be superior and divine. How is that improving conditions? Rather once property and jealousy becomes relevant, in will seep all other forms of corruption and hatred. It would end the peaceful existence of that culture. 

When religious morality is imposed upon someone (usually from early childhood), one takes it as an external rule and this morality does not come from within. So naturally, it is artificial and depends on fear and greed (hell and heaven). Such morality is bound to be pretence only as is seen so vividly among many religious and pious people. Many such people feel that it is �alright� if they can get away with it. 

Religious morality is second hand morality; religion itself is second hand opinion. Society has not been improved by this second hand morality, religious morality. Even after millennia of religious brainwashing we need huge jails and elaborate legal systems. This is a testament of the failure of religion and religious morality.

      

 

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