by Kotta Telangana » Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:34 pm

Secular Westerners have an objectively superior concept of morality compared to all religious groups, including traditional Christian Westerners. This is because secular Western morality is fundamentally based on reason and empathy, and not tradition, dogma, or authority of any sort. Religious "morality" is really not much of a moral system at all, as it merely entails the blind conformance to certain norms which are accepted on the basis of faith to be divine truths. A highly religious, highly traditional individual who behaves in a certain way is no more moral than a dumb child who behaves a certain way because he/she is afraid of being punished by mommy or daddy. Just as the dumb child is acting a certain way merely because of his/her apprehension of being disciplined by his/her parents, a religious individual is acting a certain way because of his/her fear or apprehension of negative consequences that may follow (whether it be an eternity in hell, or reincarnation as a dung worm, or excommunication, or degradation to the status of an untouchable, or anything else). Neither the dumb child nor the religious individual can be said to have any decent concept of morality.On the other hand, a secular Westerner does not refrain from committing crimes like murder and rape merely because of some authority, or because of tradition, or because of accepted norms, but because we know that committing such actions is wrong. The reason we know it is wrong to do these things is because we have the ability to empathize with other human beings, and imagine being "in their shoes", so to speak. We do not murder or rape because we understand that such actions cause immense suffering to other human beings, and that it is in the best interest of all human beings to create a society where individuals can live without fear of being murdered or raped. Therefore, all it requires to recognize the inherent immorality of such actions is the ability to exercise reason and empathy, both of which are endowed to all healthy human beings thanks to natural evolution. We do not require any deity, any scripture, any tradition, or any authority to develop an advanced concept of morality. Those that insist we do are themselves immoral, for they (by their own admission) would be killing and raping if not for the restraints placed on them by society and religion.