Morality is a Selfish Religious Blasphemy

Last updated on: September 16, 2007 at 12:52 pm by Desh Kapoor

Morality is a Selfish Religious Blasphemy 2007-09-16T12:52:38-05:00 Desh Kapoor

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You must do "good" – every pastor, priest, mullah, god-head, Prophet and Saint advises us. Is "good" a qualification of an action? Or is it a judgment on the result?

Let me ask it in another way – When does an Action become a "Good" action? When one is convinced that it leads to a good result! In itself, action is of no use and significance.

So, when we say we are going to do good – with the finality of a morality – aren’t we appropriating the role of God to ourselves? If indeed we could ensure the result of every action – then why have that "old man with a white beard" sitting up there? What the heck is he wasting his time at? Isn’t morality then, being brutally honest, the greatest religious blasphemy of ALL time?

Now, let us come to the religious foundation of Morality. Why be good (for a moment let us humor a little more on believing that there indeed is a "Good action" within your power)? Indeed why? Day of Judgment .. keep away from sinning.… it will lead to heaven… It may not be a cashiers check, but can you see a "consideration" in the genesis of Morality? If I should do "good" because I will get such and such.. then will I ever do good if that consideration was not there?

If you see a neighbor dying and you have to take a decision to whether save him or not – and the pastor told you that doing so will lead to the darkest Hell… would you do it? Would you do it if he told you .. that this action will help you save "yourself" (whatever he may mean by "yourself" in absence of a body while pointedly rejecting "after life"!!). Yes, you would! You do that everyday!

Altruism is defined as: Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others.

So, the focal word is "Selfless"! Is a system that promises you something in return for an action (even it had the authority of 100 Bibles) – selfless?

Isn’t Morality as the world knows it – a selfish pursuit?

Let’s come to the third absurdity of Morality. Central to morality is the concept of "Good" or "Evil". Essentially, an act of judgment. To judge something – you need a benchmark. A baseline. Compared to which, you can say if something fares "above" or "below" the threshold and so it can take on a value judgment. Without a baseline – there can be no judgment!

So, what is the baseline of Moralistic Good? What are we comparing an action against? Is there an "absolute" baseline out there?

Religions are built on a network of arbitrary judgment-facilitating "baselines"! In fact religion is nothing but a deliberate act on part of its "executive management" (including its Guru, Master, Prophet) to create an intricate labyrinth of such Moralistic "baselines"!

People do not fight in religions – these "baselines" do! For these baselines become the means to consideration.. to a wealth promised for all that one has been gearing to do!! If one was doing things – without any pursuit or hope of a consideration.. and so without any resort to "morality", one would have no arguments on baselines! If someone came along with his baseline, you would be .. like "whatever, I don’t care!". But what if you had a baseline and another brought another set along. And your baseline was your only measure of your Karmic bonus at the end of a certain arbitrary period? Your stock just fell! Isn’t it? Suddenly all that you had invested in, became of no use!

Morality, therefore, is born out of a fear. Fear cannot exist with love – true love. Love exists when there is no fear – of authority or loss. If one "loves" induced by fear, then is that love? You need to give food to hungry .. because?? Why? Mother Teresa saved the dying … because .. Jesus would save her and come to her rescue (He probably never did, in her mind though)?!

Was Mother Teresa’s acts then really Altruistic? However good her actions were – were they without any hope of return? Doesn’t that make them conditional actions? Can a conditional action be ever born out of Love??

The truth is Morality is foundation of a selfish and self-centered society. True love and good is not possible in a society which obsesses with arbitrary measures and benchmarks to judge and decide what is good or bad with self-defined and obsessed "baselines".

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