Modern philosophers argue that religion is not necessary for establishing a moral society and that the principles of morality can be provided through atheistic philosophical systems. But since the eighteenth century, when atheism became a powerful force in most advanced countries, all experiments for grounding moral values in atheistic philosophy have failed. There are two problems that any atheistic moral theory faces: first, such a moral theory is nothing but a religion without theological tradition (eg., communism and welfare liberalism); second, unless such a moral theory is backed by brute political power, people are not inspired to follow it.
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In religion the brute power is provided by the idea of an omniscient omnipotent god. I think it is possible to be ethical without religion or brute political force. And political forces if they continue for long remain brutal and devoid of ethics altogether
In religion the brute power is provided by the idea of an omniscient omnipotent god. I think it is possible to be ethical without religion or brute political force. And political forces if they continue for long remain brutal and devoid of ethics altogether
That is a fine point, I think. But the thing is that people generally find it difficult to be moral unless the moral principles come packaged in the form of a religion. The religion can even be secular -- like communism, or welfare liberalism.
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