Morality, a hijacking.

In the past few weeks, I stumbled upon these two quotes about religion:

“The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion” – Arthur C Clarke

“I see all different religious traditions as paths for the development of inner peace” – the 14^th Dalai Lama.

As a fan of both Clarke and the Dalai Lama, it was troubling to come across the two seemingly irreconcilable positions. One claims that religion is bad for morality and peace, and the other that religion is a path for inner peace development.

I am a huge fan of the Dalai Lama, I believe his teachings about peace, selflessness and compassion towards all sentient beings deserve more attention in our modern society.

But is religion really the best way to develop these morals?

This is not the first time someone has claimed that religion is useful for a peaceful mindset in the individual and society. Many people often tell me they believe that:

“Even if god isn’t real, the notion provides so many people around the world with hope, and it also guides them to do good in the world”.

This belief is probably as widely held as religion itself. But, as we should all realise, a widely held belief does not, ipso facto, make the belief correct.

It’s true, some studies do suggest that religious people often feel more satisfied and happy, but other studies suggest the opposite.

Australia is a (mostly) secular country. We are also increasingly atheist, with 22.3% of our population claiming no religion on the most recent census, a jump from 15% in 2001.

Recent census data suggests that young people (15-34) represent the largest percentage of religion-less individuals. This is not surprising. Young people are more likely to challenge the status quo and be open to new ideas.

That is precisely what I, as a young person, am doing here. Challenging the long-held belief that religion encourages moral behaviour.

It is not difficult to point out the atrocities that religion has caused in the past.

The Crusades, the Lebanese Civil War, the Dungan revolt in China have shown us the immense power that religions can cause throughout history. In fact, Europe alone seems to have been a non-stop Christian-on-Christian battle. If even the Christians couldn’t get along amongst themselves, what hope is there for contacts between other religions?

Sadly, despite being riddled through it, these kinds of events are not yet ‘history’. Hindus and Muslims who slaughter one another in India, Isrealis and Palestinians continue to murder each other endlessly, Sunni and Shia Muslims around the globe kill each other every day.

One crucial element of any religion (or virus, for that matter) is to be spread and propagated. Any religion that does not encourage the ‘word to be spread’ will ultimately die out. This provides the perfect motivation for people to invade new lands and force others to follow them.

Of course, religion is not the only cause for wars. People have waged wars over land, resources, sheer lust for power, or revenge.

But when it comes to war, psychology is extremely important. As world leaders will know, motivating an entire nation to go to war is no easy feat. Giving men a reason to fight, and potentially die, for something is much easier if you can tell them they have a higher purpose. Or, to put it more eloquently:

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” – Blaise Pascal

And it’s not just wars. Everyday atrocities like the abhorrent treatment of women and homosexuals, are often ‘justified’ by religion. Need I even mention the disgusting claims made by the Westboro Baptist Church?

Before I get too cynical, I should point out that yes, there are extremists. And many of these wars and problems do not go hand-in-hand with their respective religions. In the words of Gandhi:

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Perhaps religion itself is not to blame, but rather it is the interpretations and extrapolations of religion. People can talk the talk but not walk the walk.

So if religion is not evil, then has religion merely provided a catalyst for evil? Is the true evil just born from ignorance and mankind’s deep, inherent malice?

Maybe. But even so, if it’s not possible for us to live together in peace with religion, wouldn’t we all be better without it?

“It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.” – Helen Keller

the reckless philosopher