Accountability

In religion, often the answer to just about everything is - God did it. The explanation doesn’t go much further than a perplexing omnipotent supernatural deity just because he can and does everything! Also, the pinnacle of Christianity is a story about a sacrificial death scapegoat to excuse all accountability. This week I would like to compare the difference between religious and non-religious accountability. I will refer to the two sides with the names Joseph and Darwin respectively.

“Hypothetically” let’s say Joseph has sex with a 14 year old against her informed consent. For his accountability he might say that God told him to do it or maybe Satan tempted him, but Joseph has little responsibility for his own acts. Either way, he can absolve his guilt by going privately into his room and mumbling a few words of apology to an invisible person. For Darwin, if he commits some immoral act the only person to blame is himself. To set things right there is no scapegoat of sins, but rather a legal system to serve just time in jail and directly apologize to the people who were wronged.

In another case, Joseph feels obliged to show gratitude for the blessings in his life. So, again he goes privately into his room and mumbles a few words of gratitude. And God gets all the credit for anything good in Joseph’s life because - God did it. Darwin also has a good life and a lot to be thankful for. The difference is who gets the credit. For Darwin, he thanks all the hard working people who have influence his life. Any success in his life is attributed to those who rightly deserve it. Darwin can be proud of his own accomplishments that he himself earned.

For religious people, any fortunate outcome or positive event is - God. Job promotion? God, not your personal hard work. Unscathed in a serious car accident? Again that was God and not years of innovative engineering. Little Billy survived his fit of pneumonia? That’s right - God, not scientifically proven modern medicine and professionally trained doctors. The religious also have a reason to blame for anything bad that happens. Lost your job? God is trying your faith along your path to righteousness, but it’s not your poor work performance. Died in a car accident? God works in mysterious ways and it was your time; it wasn’t reckless driving. Little Billy died from pneumonia? God has a plan for everyone… a random unpredictable inconsistent changing plan. God’s plan seems more like a chance roll of the dice.

One of my very first doubts as a kid was my observation of no apparent correlation between righteous/wicked people and blessings/trials. Those who prayed over their Mac ‘n Cheese were just as healthy and “blessed” as those who didn’t. Why bother? Righteous people have a variety of difficulties and successes in life. Also, wicked people have good and bad lives too. There is no consistency or pattern of any kind. It’s almost as if there is no God. There is no difference between a godless Universe and one where God doesn’t interfere with his creation. God works in mysterious, random, and sadistic ways.

Good things. Bad things. The only person to point a finger of blame at is those who actually did it. “God told me to” is not a verifiable claim but an excuse. When the Mormon church says that God told them to be racist homophobic sexists, the only real people to blame are the super conservative decrepit old corporate CEO's that run the church. They invent new commandments and apologies according to their imaginations of what they think God wants. It is possible to be good without God. There are morals without religion.

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” - Steven Weinberg