The following sign exists on the wall of Shishu Bhavan, the children’s home in Calcutta: ANYWAY People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered LOVE THEM ANYWAY If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives DO GOOD ANYWAY If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies SUCCEED ANYWAY The good… Continue Reading
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Reality Morality
Previous essays have discussed the fusion of religions and morality in multiple different ways. We have made the point that our religions and our morals have been tightly bound together in our societies, as if in a marriage. We have described that as a dysfunctional marriage, in which both partners are cheating on each other.… Continue Reading
Desert Orphan Lessons
Judged by the usual standards, Muhammad did not have a propitious beginning in life. His father died before he was born. That left him in charge of his grandfather, ‘Abd al-Muttalib, who immediately arranged for the infant Muhammad to be given to a wet nurse in one of the nomadic desert tribes. The reasons for… Continue Reading
Khadijah
We like to conjecture as to who is the most important person in our societies at certain times. “Who is the man of the year?” “Who was our greatest president?” “Who was the man of the century?” “Who was the greatest ruler of all time?” Most of that conjecture surrounds men, that in itself being… Continue Reading
Religion and the Economy
It is easy to think that religion has very little to do with our economy. Religion, after all, concerns itself mostly with our reverence for our creator and our system of morals. Our religions wish to serve all the population in this manner, offering guidance and solace to all, regardless of economic status, business or… Continue Reading
Cyrus and Civil Liberties
This certainly is quite a stretch. What in the world does a Babylonian dictator have to do with our civil liberties, and what does any of this have to do with our religions, our morals, our commerce, or anything else important? Without begging the question further, they all have a great deal to do with… Continue Reading
Freedom of and Freedom from Religion
It’s been a nasty ride so far this year. We began with the common myths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, then discussed how each of those religions has added their own myths on top, to establish their individuality. We talked about why religion seems to be one of the necessities of human life and how… Continue Reading
Fear, Religion and Nuclear War
We have spent considerable time in these essays discussing the bipolarity of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At one pole, each of them has a wonderful system of morals, which have stood by us well. Those morals started out as pretty nasty social laws. It was an eye for an eye, a hand for a hand,… Continue Reading
The Punishment Phase of Our Religions
The great beauty of our religions is that they emphasize and teach us morals. They are not just concerned with our concepts of what or who began the universe, what the characteristics of this great force are, and what the plans are for us as a species. They are also deeply concerned about the implications… Continue Reading
Religion and Morality, a Dysfunctional Marriage
It certainly seems as if they were meant for each other. Reverence for our Creator and awe at the magnificence of our world have been with us as long as we have been humans. Forms of morality and means of enforcing them have been an essential part of human society from the very beginning. What… Continue Reading