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Flame » in reply to A thought experiment from Peter Singer

Re: Shifting gears but along the same line..
ER — (archived)

It's possible, it has been argued that a hard-wired belief in possible supernatural aid can keep people fighting for life in desperate circumstances, and sometimes people get lucky and survive as a result. So it's possible that there would be some survival value.

But most westerners and monotheists don't even realize that their form of religiosity isn't necessarily the only one. It's not even the default. Many Oriental religions, for example, believe there are supernatural beings that created and control the world, but they have little interest in human affairs. Others believe that the gods can be bribed or lobbied, but that there is no master plan of good and evil administered by the Godhead which we must subscribe to. And one of the world's greatest Eastern religions, Buddhism, isn't even a religion per se. It's a philosophy. It's possible to be a Zen Buddhist AND a Episcopalian minister at the same time, like Alan Watts.

Most people follow some version of the religion they learn as children, but if you actually watch them live their lives, you realize that for the most part they do not follow any particular doctrine or ritual. Even the average Christian believes God created the world, and takes some interest in our personal lives, but other than that interferes little in human life, and asks little of us except to treat our fellow man with a little fairness, dignity and respect.

That's not too much to expect of anyone, and it's a philosophy even many "materialists" would not find unreasonable. You don't have to believe in God to follow the Golden Rule. It may not be the Law, but it's still a good idea.

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