Christians don’t own the moral high ground?

Christians don’t own the moral high ground?

by Bob Topper

1,233 words

Fundamentalists were angered in 1973 when the Supreme Court confirmed the right to abortion and the rights of the LGBTQ community to live life as they choose. In their eyes these human rights violated god’s laws. Moreover, they worried that with the decline in church attendance, America would become a godless and immoral society. To defend their beliefs and secure their influence on American culture, they became active in politics and, led by extremists like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, immersed themselves in the Republican Party, which they now dominate. 

Today Republican leaders and party regulars fully endorse the Christian world view. Just a few years ago former Attorney General Bill Barr said, “Judeo-Christian moral standards are the ultimate rules for human conduct” and that “the fact is that no secular creed has emerged capable of performing the role of religion.” And the Christian-dominated Supreme Court also affirmed his belief in Christian morality with the Dobbs decision which allowed states with Christian majorities to impose their religious anti-abortion beliefs on their fellow citizens. Both fail to understand the nature of our Constitution or the origin of moral standards.

The Christian right has gained far too much power. Christian Nationalists like Pete Hegseth run the Trump administration. They maintain that America is a Christian nation and that they are the true patriots. They also claim the moral high ground, asserting that their Bible is the word of God, and supersedes the Constitution, the word of man. Like Barr, they insist that the Bible is the standard of morality. 

But their claims are fundamentally flawed. America is a constitutionally secular nation, and the moral high ground has belonged to Secular Humanism for over 200 years.

Religion is belief in the absence of fact. Humanism accepts only what is supported by fact. Humanists are skeptical of the biblical stories like Jonah and the whale and Noah and the Ark for they are not factual. Their skepticism troubles Christian Extremists who believe the bible is the absolute truth. This disagreement is the source of the one-sided animosity evangelicals have for humanism.

Amplifying this conflict is the fact that Humanism and the United States of America are products of the Enlightenment. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were American Enlightenment thinkers. They were deeply influenced by the European Age of Reason and adopted its ideals of reason, natural rights, and liberty to shape their political philosophy and the formation of the United States government. Our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, embody Enlightenment philosophy.

To be truly free, a nation must be secular. The Fundamentalists’ notion of a Christian nation ignores the factual history of America’s founding.

And the fundamentalist assertion that the Bible is the God-given moral standard also ignores fact. All societies have moral standards. Killing, lying, rape and incest are forbidden everywhere. Consider:

·       Rather than simply dictating moral precepts, the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle developed a logical framework for understanding morality and its relationship to a life well lived. 

·       The key practices of Buddhism require adhering to the Five Precepts (abstaining from killing, stealing, false speech, sexual misconduct, and intoxicants) and developing virtues like compassion, honesty, and contentment. 

·       The five ethical guidelines of Hinduism are; kindness and non-harming to others; commitment to honesty and integrity; refraining from theft and exploitation; practicing moderation and self-control, including faithfulness in marriage; channeling one’s energy constructively; limiting desires and possessions to what is necessary, and avoiding greed. 

·       The Jains believe in total nonviolence and forbid the killing of any living organism, even insects. They also believe that a good life requires right belief, right knowledge, and right conduct, which includes vows of truthfulness, non-stealing, and chastity.

Christianity does not have a moral monopoly. But what is more important is that these fundamentally different cultures developed remarkably similar moral principles. Moral principles evolved in all cultures because they were essential to cultural development. They were not handed down by the God of Christianity. 

Consider honesty. All cultures abhor liars for the simple reason that societies require cooperation. The success of any undertaking depends upon the parties involved keeping their word. Even members of drug cartels demand honesty from gang members. Truth is essential. Trump’s greatest offense against society is that he has made truth fungible. The 2020 election was fair and honest, as confirmed by over 60 court cases, yet his followers believe his false claim of election fraud. 

Moreover, the Bible’s moral principles are often flawed. What civilized society today would agree with Leviticus that adulterers must be stoned to death, or that anyone who curses his father or mother must be killed as commanded in Exodus 21:17? There may be consequences, but killing is irrational.

The New Testament emphasizes love, compassion, and forgiveness. And if the Bible can be wrong, how can it be the word of god?

We know the Bible is wrong because of our ability to reason. Judges and juries use reason to weigh the gravity of offenses against the severity of punishments every day. This dependence upon reason to make moral judgments is an affirmation of Humanism. Humanism seeks rational ways of solving human problems. It does not appeal to the divine or ancient writings for guidance. 

Humans have devised moral codes and laws from the dawn of civilization. American values are embedded in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and our moral code is written in the US law canon. Though it may lag, the law reflects societal mores. Laws codify our shared values.

Our laws may be coincidentally consistent with passages of the bible, but our legal system is far more comprehensive and relevant to the modern world, covering important topics like contracts, intellectual property, and plagiarism. 

And our laws are more balanced and compassionate. They recognize for example that homosexuality and gender dysphoria are normal variations of human nature. They accept the fact that members of the LGBTQ community are exactly as nature’s god intended them to be. To deny their right to live life as they choose is irrational.

Our nation is the most important outcome of the Age of Reason, yet today it is run by people who reject reason, liberal education, and science. People like Hegseth are more concerned about serving the god of Christianity than serving the American people. 

How can a people who have been free from tyranny for 250 years now accept the tyranny of an autocratic Christian theocracy? But that is clearly where this once great nation is headed. Look at what this administration has given us so far…incompetence and corruption. Consider: Robert Kennedy Jr., an anti-vax conspirator running Health and Human Services; Hegseth, a womanizing drinking warmonger heading the Department of Defense; Linda McMahon, former head of World Wrestling running the Department of Education; Lee Zeldin, climate change denier, head of the EPA. 

And leading this parade of incompetence we have a convicted felon who our Christian Supreme Court has said is above the law and whose focus is amassing a personal fortune. Not only has Trump abused his office, but he is also making enemies of our allies and friends of our adversaries. His haywire trade policies are an international embarrassment. And our economy, the world’s strongest just a year ago, is now in decline.

Think of what Trump and the Republican theocrats will do if there is no democracy to restrain them. 

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Bob Topper, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a retired engineer.