THERE are two theories about morals. One theory is that the moral man
obeys the commands of a supposed God, without stopping to think whether
the commands are right or wrong. He believes that the will of the God is
the source and fountain of right. He thinks a thing is wrong because
the God prohibits it, not that the God prohibits it because it is wrong.
This theory calls not for thought, but for obedience. It does not appeal
to reason, but to the fear of punishment, the hope of reward. God is a
king whose will is law, and men are serfs and slaves.
Many contend that without a belief in the existence of God morality is
impossible and that virtue would perish from the earth.
This absurd theory, with its "Thus saith the Lord" has been claimed to
be independent of and superior to reason.
The other theory is that right and wrong exist in the nature of things;
that certain actions preserve or increase the happiness of man, and that
other actions cause sorrow and misery; that all those actions that cause
happiness are moral, and that all others are evil, or indifferent. Right
and wrong are not revelations from some supposed god, but have been
discovered through the experience and intelligence of man. There is
nothing miraculous or supernatural about morality. Neither has morality
anything to do with another world, or with an infinite being. It applies
to conduct here, and the effect of that conduct on ourselves and others
determines its nature.
In this world people are obliged to supply their wants by labor.
Industry is a necessity, and those who work are the natural enemies of
those who steal.
It required no revelation from God to make larceny unpopular. Human
beings naturally object to being injured, maimed, or killed, and so
everywhere, and at all times, they have tried to protect themselves.
Men did not require a revelation from God to put in their minds the
thought of self-preservation. To defend yourself when attacked is as
natural as to eat when you are hungry.
To determine the quality of an action by showing that it is in
accordance with, or contrary to the command of some supposed God, is
superstition pure and simple. To test all actions by their consequences
is scientific and in accord with reason.
According to the supernatural theory, natural consequences are not taken
into consideration. Actions are wrong because they have been prohibited
and right because they have been commanded. According to the Catholic
Church, eating meat on Friday is a sin that deserves eternal punishment.
And yet, in the nature of things, the consequences of eating meat on
that day must be exactly the same as eating meat on any other. So,
all the churches teach that unbelief is a crime, not in the nature of
things, but by reason of the will of God.
Of course this is absurd and idiotic. If there be an infinite God he
cannot make that wrong which in the nature of things is right. Neither
can he make an action good the natural consequences of which are evil.
Even an infinite God cannot change a fact. In spite of him the relation
between the diameter and circumference of a circle would remain the
same.
All the relations of things to things, of forces to forces, of acts to
acts, of causes to effects in the domain of what is called matter,
and in the realm of what is called mind, are just as certain, just as
unchangeable as the relation between the diameter and circumference of a
circle.
An infinite God could not make ingratitude a virtue any easier than he
could make a square triangle.
So, the foundations of the moral and the immoral are in the nature of
things--in the necessary relation between conduct and well-being, and
an infinite God cannot change these foundations, and cannot increase or
diminish the natural consequences of actions.
In this world there is neither chance nor caprice, neither magic nor
miracle. Behind every event, every thought and dream, is the efficient,
the natural and necessary cause.
The effort to make the will of a supposed God the foundation of
morality, has filled the world with misery and crime, extinguished in
millions of minds the light of reason, and in countless ways hindered
and delayed the progress of our race.
Intelligent men now know, that if there be an infinite God, man cannot
in any way increase or decrease the happiness of such a being. They know
that man can only commit crimes against sentient beings who, to some
extent at least, are within his power, and that a crime by a finite
being against an infinite being is an infinite impossibility.