The Morality of God and Man

“Unless the will is free, man has no freedom; and if he has no freedom he is not a moral agent, that is, he is incapable of moral action and also of moral character.”

— Charles Finney

In the universe we observe the creation and destruction of entire solar systems and galaxies. Nowhere within this do we find any sense of right or wrong. If we observe a star exploding and engulfing all the planets around it we do not weep for the planets or cheer for the star.

Similarly, we find in nature that no moral code determines the actions of a lion killing a zebra, nor do we arrest monkeys for stealing items from tourists. However, some studies have shown that certain animals do act morally and have a sense of right and wrong. You can read more about that here.

I want to focus on when humans became morals creatures and why.

Humans have always been social creatures in that we operate in groups, tribes, communities, countries. Within these groups we all have a shared interest in survival and so it is in our best interest to care for those around us on the level that we depend on each other for our physical existence to keep on existing.

But does that carry with it a moral code?

If we are all treating each other kindly in the hopes of personal gain then we aren’t truly acting in good faith.

So, when did moral obligations become an intrinsic value of humanity rather than a tool for survival?

We know we don’t act morally for the survival of the species or give more care to those that we deem more fit to operate within our societies. If we did then there would be no debates about abortion, welfare, or whether or not to care for humans that can’t care for themselves. We would simply assess the situations from a logical stand point and act accordingly. However, we are emotional creatures and many times emotion trumps logic in our decision making.

But why is that?

The easiest answer is that emotional reactions require less cognitive function, and therefore less energy, than logical reactions. Emotional reactions are also drilled into us from an early age and in many cases through the understanding of religion. However, religion relies heavily on the aspect that acting in good faith is necessary for eternal reward.

This reasoning makes little sense when you frame it in the sense that morality is derived from divine beings such as, God. If God provides us with a moral code then God is fairly bad at adhering to his own moral code.

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (translated by Stephen Mitchell) 11.32–34:

“I am death, shatterer of worlds, annihilating all things. With or without you, these warriors in their facing armies will die.

Therefore stand up; win glory; conquer the enemy; rule. Already I have struck them down; you are just my instrument, Arjuna.

Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna, and the other great heroes have already been killed by me. Fight; without hesitation kill them.”

I could quote the bible here as well but I’m not going to because there are so many instances of God in the bible acting immorally.

So, if divine beings are not to act within moral codes then how did we come to the point of attributing the saving of our souls from damnation through good acts of the physical body?

We are left no other path to define our moral code then through social construction. It could also be argued that religion is a result of social construction and the stories within religious texts are ways to teach about how one must act within society in terms of cultural norms.

The question still stands, however, that if we act in good faith for the hopes of eternal rewards then are we actually adhering to a moral code or are we only concerned with self preservation?

Within our society (I live in the United States of America) we have laws that carry punishments against immoral things like murder and stealing. However, our capitalist system rewards the greedy and punishes the humble. If a poor man steals bread for his family to eat he can face prison time, but when a rich man hoards wealth that attributes to placing the poor man in that position no one bats an eye.

Does the law then reflect a moral code that adheres to the prosperity of the people or does the law support a system of hypocrisy that punishes marginalized groups in our society?

The government practices immorality on a global scale, as we are seeing in Palestine. Our tax dollars are being used right now to fund the death of children and yet society still functions. Morality is then observed to be subjective to those that it benefits. Though, at least for me, I don’t see how a nation that derives its moral code from the “word of God” can actively turn a blind eye to the systems that govern their own lives when it is the lives of others that are to suffer from their actions.

Thank you for reading. Peace and love to you and yours.

If you’re feeling extra kind today and wish to help out, based on income, a struggling writer then you can buy me a coffee!

I make money directly from your donation to my link above.

You can also subscribe to get a notification whenever I post! Up to you though, I know emails can be annoying but they help me build an audience and that would be cool if you were a part of that.