| Wednesday, April 24, 2002 |
22:35 - A stray scrap of thought...
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In heated discussions over the past few days, I've run across the claim many times that religion is inherently valuable in that it "promotes good morals and ethics". Well, in response to that, I say this:
If the only thing preventing you from lying, cheating, stealing, raping, and killing is the fear of going to Hell-- rather than any ability to discern consciously that these things are wrong in and of themselves-- then you're not the kind of person I can trust not to do any of those things.
In other words, if you need religion to tell you that these things are wrong, then you have my pity-- but you can't automatically expect me to need it too.
When it comes to providing incentive to do or not do something, I will always prefer reason rather than fear as the motivator.
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