Losing My Religion

Hello you moral people. I bet you love preaching your ethics. "I don't eat meat" "I practice safe sex" "I give money to the RSPB" Blah, blah, blah! Well most people seem to believe that you need to subscribe to a religion to be moral. The amount of times I've heard "Atheists are immoral!" It's such a stupid argument. I am (kind of) an atheist. I am more moral than most fundamental religious people. The thing with ethics and morality is that it's all cultural. A few classic examples...


A homosexual man can get a civil partnership here, but in the 'great' nation of Qatar, homosexuality is illegal because the country rules by religion and the Qur'an condemns homosexuality. 


I can kill myself in Switzerland but in the United Kingdom ending my own life is considered wrong and is therefore illegal here.   


I can eat meat, as much as I want here without too many people judging me, but Buddhists would look at me in disgust. Well, not really but they certainly wouldn't approve.


The point being morality is what we call subjective. Do you remember what that word means? It means it is not universally true. X-Factor is utter shit. That is objective meaning it's a fact ;) Just like 2+2 = 4. However, morality is, in a way, a matter of opinion. I will concede that there is the odd moral law that everyone abides by... as far as I'm aware, murder has always been considered immoral. Obviously circumstances surrounding taking someone's life have changed between culture and era. I.e. if I murdered the man who raped someone I was close to, some cultures would say that was acceptable. 


But this subjectivity holds true for the most part. Which is precisely why I am so against religion! Religious doctrine is written at a time when certain things are moral and certain things are considered wrong. However, give it ten years or so and things change. People naturally change their ideas and beliefs. So how the hell can we adhere to such strict ethics? 


Now don't get me wrong, certain religions aren't immoral or wrong per say and if it makes you happy to believe in a higher power that created all life, then that's fine. But don't suggest to me that your so much more moral than I. I don't need a book to tell me how to live my life pal. Anyway, don't think your so smart, we're sheep...what we consider moral is what we've been told. If I should steal, my mother will tell me it is wrong. It is wrong in this society and this life. Who knows, somewhere down the line it may be moral? It's an extreme example, but how can we know?


That's the whole point. Morality is constantly changing and shifting. It's as diverse as the nation we live in. I think living my life the best I can is good enough for any possible divine being. I want to support gay rights and say that the war in Iraq wasn't necessarily a bad idea (despite it being a bloody mess) and I want to argue that women should have the right to an abortion. If that makes me a bad person in your eyes, then so be it. Many religions are wrong in my eyes but it doesn't make them wrong. That's the thin line of morality. We have to be understanding. Some more examples...


Why are Jehova's Witnesses against blood transfusions? They believe their blood is clean and not dirty. This belief leads to many dying because they can't have the transfusion but in their eyes, the person is saved by having good blood. Yet they've let somebody die! Surely this is immoral? 


Or the Westboro Baptist Church who believe 'fags' should burn in hell. Should they? I don't think so. That's there interpretation of the Bible and a very horrible one too! After all, homosexuality is just how some people are, we should love them just the same. Also, if they're taking the Bible so literally they should be against literally a million things but they're not because most people like to cherry pick to suit themselves. They like to consider themselves moral by acting how they want. Doesn't really work does it? 


We can judge people all we want and we can try and argue that our corner of morality is correct but at the end of it all, people act the way they were raised. People's morality is mostly defined by background and social upbringing. If I was raised in the forties and you had sex before getting married, I'd be disgusted. If you did it and I was raised in the nineties (which I was) I wouldn't care...people do it all the time.


Next time you think about questioning someone's ethics, just try understanding why they have them and only question them if you have good reason to. Unless it's something ridiculous which is one of the objective moral codes, i.e. don't murder or rape or steal then perhaps you should just let them get on with their own damn lives.


Now go away.