While I’m on the subject of morality, what really is the answer to all the immorality in the world?
No I’m not talking watching “Real Sex” on HBO, nor for that matter mass murder, single murder, rape, or any of really horrible crimes that happen. Clearly the people who do those (excluding “Real Sex” watchers of course), are somewhat beyond the normal level of recovery.
What I’m talking about the plethora of nasty little things that we do to each other, whether in the halls of business, in our homes, on the street, or in our marriages. I’m talking the petty lying, cheating, and stealing that goes on all the time. I’m talking cutting in line. I’m talking not paying your fair share of taxes. Or dumping that extra gallon of oil you didn’t know what to do with on the ground. I’m talking cutting people off in traffic, or not taking the simple courtesy of changing lanes to let someone on the highway. Or breaking into someone’s house to score a few electronics. Or pushing over tombstones for fun. Or throwing our bear cans out our windows (for that matter, drinking beer while driving!). Or running off with the MP3 player we found rather than turning it into lost and found. Or honking your horn right behind a bicyclist just to jag them off. Or just speaking ill of people we don’t need to.
All the selfish tiny little ills that we subject to each other that make life on this earth a living hell.
So what is the answer? The fundamentalists (of numerous religions frankly) would have you believe more “God” (specifically, their god) is the answer. Clearly we are not faithful enough, otherwise we wouldn’t do these things.
Problem is, plenty of very faithful people are pretty dang nasty. A lot of them are very controlling. Many are extremely judgmental, in fact that is sort of how they define their faith – by putting others down, including others of supposed equal faith (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, hang out with some baptist deacons sometime). Frankly in many cases if you don’t fit into their “mold”, all bets toward nicety in your direction are off.
As far as the “simple faithful”, well since 95% of Americans supposedly fall into this category, and yet all the ills I listed are rampant, then I think we can pretty much say that’s out too.
In short, I don’t think religion makes a lot of difference here. Immorality is not by any means a disease only of atheists.
So what then? More schooling? Better parenting? What?
Well, I certainly agree more schooling and better parenting wouldn’t hurt, but I think it’s a lot more simple than that in some ways:
We need to be better people.
What I mean is, we don’t need God (no offense to God), we don’t need better schools, better parents, some help book, or support group. We don’t need to find Jesus, sacrifice a lamb on the 7th night, or try this new drug (Duuude). We just need to be nicer to each other.
That is, stop blaming it on the gays, or the atheists, or liberals, or the commies, of the Catholics, or the Muslims, or the teachers, or blacks, or the Latinos, or the Mexicans, or Nazis, or the Jews, or WASPs, or the Baptists, or trailer trash, or the whatever. Stop thinking that fixing “some other thing” or “some other one” is going to make it better.
The only thing that is going to make it better is you (or in my case, me). We all just need to be nicer, good-er, better people. We all just need to stop doing bad shit to each other and blaming it others.
I have seen the enemy and it is us.
Seriously – what makes the world hell is us all being a bunch of ass-holes to each other and frankly that has just about zip to do with any defining characteristic that the other ass-hole that might be doing it to us at the same time has as well. That defining characteristic is ultimately a ruse to distract us from the fact that in the end we’re all the same, despite any perceived differences, and that we don’t need to fix anyone else, we need to fix ourselves.
For if we all concentrate on fixing ourselves who we can change, rather than others who we probably can’t, then the world really will become a better place. So while I can’t say I’m actually convinced Jesus was actually divine, I will say he had something about the “mote” versus the “beam” business:
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
And that includes me too.
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