Read Atheism For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality)) Online
Authors: Dale McGowan
Atheism For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality)) (77 page)
Hope of reward:
Only slightly higher is stage two, the hope of reward. Being good only on condition of a gumball isn’t the most impressive moral code. Lollipops and heaven are also stage two.
Social approval and disapproval:
Stage three is a killer, at least for me. I take it very hard when people disapprove of my actions, especially when it’s people I respect. When those same people are happy with me, I feel like Thor. This isn’t the highest form of morality, but it’s not bad, and it’s a potent one for many people.
Rule following:
The fourth level of morality is following laws and rules. Most civil codes are based on Level 4, and those folks who want the Ten Commandments posted in every school are appealing to this middling level of morality.
Social contract:
If you have a Stage 5 understanding of morality, you recognize that laws and rules are made by humans and can be changed by humans. (This is the point where some religious folks scream “Moral relativism!” and swallow their tongues.) The earlier section, “
Recognizing the changing nature of morality
,” is all about Level 5.
Universal ethical principles:
The sixth and highest level of moral development is reached when a person is willing to violate rules and laws if they contradict higher principles, even at the risk of punishment, social disapproval, or sometimes death.
Name a true moral hero, religious (Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus Christ) or nonreligious (Thomas Paine, Bertrand Russell, Ernestine Rose), and they’ll probably be working at Level Six at least some of the time.
Sharing a golden, human idea
The ethic of reciprocity (or the Golden Rule) is universal, belonging not to any one religion or philosophy but to all humanity. Some variations throughout history include the following:
Zoroastrianism (seventh century BCE):
“That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.” — Dadistan-i Dinik 94-5
Jainism (fifth century BCE):
“A man should treat all creatures in the world as he himself would like to be treated.” — Sutrakritinga; Wisdom of the Living Religions #69, I:II:33
Buddhism (fourth century BCE):
“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” — Udanavarga 5,18
Classical Greece (fourth century BCE):
“May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me.” — Plato
Hinduism (fourth century BCE):
“This is the sum of duty: Do not do to others what would cause you pain if done to you.” — Mahabharata 5,1517
Confucianism (fourth century BCE):
“Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you.” — Analects 15,23
Christianity (first century CE):
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” — Matthew 7:12
Judaism (third century):
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.” — Talmud, Shabbat 3id
Islam (seventh century):
“No man is a true believer unless he desireth for his brother that which he desireth for himself.” — Azizullah, Hadith 150
Taoism (12th century):
“Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” — T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien
Baha’i (19th century):
“Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.” — Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, LXVI:8
Wicca (20th century):
“Ain’ it harm none, do what thou wilt.” — The Wiccan Rede
Some say treating someone as
they
wish to be treated is better, not as
you
wish to be treated. You could, after all, be a masochist. So there’s the Platinum Rule: “Treat others the way they want to be treated.”