It’s not against the law to tell untruths - except when said under oath in a court of law. Yet people are reluctant to lie. What controlling factor influences a person to take or not take an action? One of the reasons is fear. Fear of being caught and punished - either by the law or as an act of retribution by a deity.But why do atheists consider acts which are not against the law unacceptable? Why is some behaviour considered acceptable, while others are taboo? Is it due to the functioning of conscience?
The performance of conscience requires a judgement between right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. To do this there must be a predefined standard of behaviour - a moral code.
Perhaps one moral precept which is universally accepted is don’t take another human’s life- the sixth of the Ten Commandments. Yet both Blair and Bush who profess to be Christians had no hesitation in ordering the invasion of Iraq. Resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The Ninth Commandment accepted by both: Jews, Catholics and Protestants is “Thou shall not bear false witness”. How can you tell when a politician is lying? There lips are moving.
Is conscience an inherent sense or the product of social indoctrination and pressure?
It must have a social component - morality isn’t universal. For example homosexuality is not against the law and becoming more socially acceptable in Europe, yet is considered both repulsive and taboo in Africa. So moral standards vary from country to country and are continuously evolving.
Conscience is the indoctrinated reaction to a set of rules formulated to attain social cohesion.
In recent years there has been a parallel decline in both a sense of community and social conscience. I am jarred most on witnessing apparently trivial wrongdoings:
- spitting - something that is on the increase,
- young people not giving up their seat on public transport to an old person or pregnant woman,
- behaviour with no consideration for others - barging in front of people, talking loudly on mobile phones, playing MP3 players on public transport - the constant muffled sh sh sh sh sh.
No amount of preaching by politicians or religious leaders will re-establish a moral code - they are no longer respected or trusted. In reality even if they were, morality cannot be introduced into the collective consciousness - it would be equivalent to sowing seed in a parched desert. The pre-eminent prerequisite is the establishment of a sense of community.
In an earlier blog (“YesBut can society thrive without a moral code?”, dated 29th April 2007) I discussed the dismantling of community in the 1980s under the guidance of the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
How can individual loyalty to community be established?
