Bertrand Russell on morality
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- Published on Thursday, 23 May 2013 07:18
- Written by John Draper
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One of the great philosophers of the last century, Bertrand Russell was a declared atheist and wrote many articles on god and morality. His style was clear and concise but his thoughts on morality of itself were not put into a single short article. I am attempting to do that here. My source is a book called "Why I am not a Christian - and other essays on religion and related subjects". It was published in 1957 when he was 85 - he died in 1970.
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Democracy and the Catholic Church
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- Published on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 06:57
- Written by John Draper
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What people believe is not necessarily what they are told to believe by an autocratic Church. Centuries ago, the priests and bishops and even the ministers and pastors were the majority of the educated class. Worse, other educated people did not have the weekly sermons to tell the faithful how things worked and what they should do and believe. The average peasant had no way of knowing that what he was being told by the priest was a load of crap. In addition, religions and their dogmas were integrated into politics - they were a way of keeping the riff-raff in place. But gradually, education, literacy and the thought that people could decide for themselves began to spread. It was not just religion but also politics that was subject to individual thinking. When Luther asked some awkward questions, he got support from local Princes who were fed up with the autocratic bishops telling their subjects what to think and do - which included sending money to Rome and ignoring the Prince when the bishops said so.
Catholic Contradictions
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- Published on Friday, 17 May 2013 06:43
- Written by John Draper
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One difference between Catholic teaching and other religions is that Catholics reject "relativism" - Benedict was the most recent Pope to speak out against it. In its place, Catholics promote the idea that morality is objective. Any particular act is always wrong. Jesuit Kenneth Baker writes that "The Catholic Church has consistently and continually rejected subjectivism and relativism in morality". This is why they resist approval of abortion and gay sex. They also say that abusing children is wrong whether it's done by priests or anyone. So that would mean that abuse is always wrong and is never acceptable no matter the circumstances.
Is Atheism a Religion?
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- Published on Sunday, 19 May 2013 07:16
- Written by John Draper
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By anyone’s definition, religion is a set of beliefs – but more than that, these beliefs have to be in some fashion not readily believable. Believing in gravity, a hot sun, cold ice and a collection of other physical facts do not constitute a religion. But believing in an invisible god and stories about how he created us is a religion. However, other things are described colloquially as “religious”. For example, you might say that a friend is “religious about going to the gym”. You mean he treats his commitment to the gym like he would his commitment to a religion. So another aspect of religion is that you are committed to it. You might say I am religious about atheism – that by itself does not make atheism a religion – it just describes my level of commitment.