on morality and religion…

This post was an interesting read. The author critiques  the people who  argue that atheists have no basis for morality so much so that they cannot even criticize Hitler. It always seemed rather ironic that the staunchest of religious people think that they have instinctively acquired the moral high ground that is necessary to put down others. On the basis of what? On the basis of their following a particular religion? Or on the basis of the fact that they deem themselves as spokespersons for their favored God. And that their favored God is the only one who matters?

This is the kind of belief system that leads to the prevalent intolerance in today’s world. To me it is very much akin to the Ptolemy theory about us being the center of the Universe. According to this school of thoughts, we, as the ones perceiving the Universe are in a unique position. We are in the center of the Universe. We are practicing the most favored religion of the world and hold the most exalted beliefs possible. This attitude percolates into the criticism of other systems of belief as noted above. This mind set is fanatical to say the least. Anyone, with such a disdain for something different, would consider himself automatically entitled to squash other systems which can be perceived inferior to his own. And if this person with such a mindset happens to reside under a dictator who preaches that atheists must be eliminated, it would not sound so bad for him to comply with his diktats and commit a genocide of all of the atheists! Which makes him not very different from Hitler. Right?

In most of our minds, humility is one of the most important virtues. This decrying of others beliefs goes counter to humility in every respect. And by judging yourself as the only one entitled to morality, you make the biggest sin of all – self deification. Seen in this light, everyone has the potential of proclaiming themselves as a prophet.