Being Good Without God

Bertrand Russell talks about morality as a motivation some people have for adhering to and promoting religious belief. It is a point made more recently by Richard Dawkins. There is certainly some room for criticism of the Christian tradition on this point. Although Matthew’s moral universalization of the Golden Rule as the basis for divine judgment – “What you do unto others, God will do unto you” – may be progress compared to some other systems that are even more arbitrary, it is not as impressive as the sentiment expressed by Rabi’a, the Sufi mystic, in her famous prayer:

O my Lord, if I worship you from fear of hell, burn me in hell. If I worship
you from hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates. But if I worship you for
yourself alone, grant me then the beauty of your Face.

Can anyone doubt that this ideal of selflessness is better than a morality based on fear of punishment?

The idea that people will be good only if they fear punishment – whether from parents, the state and its authorities, or God – is deeply troubling, since it suggests that the populace is as immature morally as it is spiritually. Does one really need the threat of hell to keep husbands and wives from cheating on one another? Isn’t the fact that you’ve made promises enough? Isn’t the relationship that exists sufficient basis for ethical behavior? Isn’t becoming the sort of person whose promise means nothing a harsh enough judgment?

I agree with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s suggestion that God wants mature children, able to live “before God, as though God were not there”, able to get along without him. Arguments that religion or law or anything else are essential to keep us in line are not arguments anyone should make with pride. Rather they are self-indictments of which we should be deeply ashamed. As the book of Job hinted at long ago, our right and wrong actions don’t affect God. They affect others, and ourselves. Anyone who doesn’t find the consequences of their actions, and what their actions say about themselves, sufficient reason to act ethically, should think long and hard about what this says about the sort of people they are.