Someone actually said that to me recently, despite my claim that both morality and ethical behavior stem from a shared cultural and intuitive reality. Simply put- right and wrong exist in the nature of things. Certain actions can preserve or increase the happiness of man, while other actions cause sorrow and misery. Right and wrong are not revelations from some supernatural being, but have been learned through the experience and intelligence of man. There is nothing unworldly about morality; nothing magical about ethics. The effect of our conduct on others, as well as ourselves, is what determines its nature.
Throughout history, human beings have naturally objected to being maimed or killed, and so at all times they tried to protect themselves. It required no revelation from a god to make murder unpopular. The concept of self-preservation is in all of nature.
It is in our nature to know that torture is wrong. We don’t want to be tortured. We intuitively know that rape is wrong. We don’t want to be raped. We know that slavery is wrong. We don’t want to be slaves. Although these are three subjects of which the Bible is embarrassingly silent, except to occasionally advocate in the name of God, we still intuitively know that these things are wrong.
If there is an infinite god, he cannot make that wrong which in the nature of human experience is right. He cannot make ingratitude a virtue any more than he could make a round triangle. The foundation of morality is in the nature of actions and consequences, in the necessary relation between conduct and well-being, and an infinite god cannot increase or diminish the natural consequences of actions.
Even the Catholic Church teaches that human reason inclines people to seek the good and avoid sin, and that people would therefore still be prone to moral behavior even without knowledge of a revealed divine law. This natural law provides the foundation on which humans can build moral rules to guide its choices and regulate society. Other religious groups have adopted similar reasoning.
Morality can be seen in nature, and is not necessarily limited to humans. In a recent experiment, a pair of monkeys was placed in a situation where one monkey would receive a pellet of food when he pulled a chain. However, it would also deliver an electrical shock to the monkey’s companion. The result of the experiment was that the monkey who had access to the chain, starved himself for several days rather then see his companion shocked. This clearly demonstrates compassion and empathy. This clearly demonstrates ethical behavior from an animal quite like us that has no connection to religion.
Some people expect to make this world good by destroying desire, reasoning that if you don’t want anything, you won’t want anything bad. This is a kind of pious petrification that turns all energies towards the direction of repression, and away from growth. Nothing can be more immoral than to waste your own life, and sour that of others with this type of thinking.
In my mind, anything that wipes away a tear from the face of pain is moral. Anything that bursts into blossom, bearing the fruit of joy, is moral. Anything that gives good natured laughter to the world is moral, and is surely the most wonderful music that has ever enriched the ears of man.
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