Morality cannot be properly inculcated via fear-mongering; it is something that should develop organically as one grows and becomes increasingly aware of society and its functions. Pedagogy which emphasizes punishment and rewards as a means of teaching moral behaviour cannot be said to teach good citizenship; rather, it teaches that morality is something that is imposed extrinsically, and is not inherent to the person who wishes to be moral. Emphasis on extrinsic morality provides short-term satisfaction, but its long-term effects are suspect. When someone is taught to refrain from stealing because that person will have certain social privileges revoked, is this as potent, or as meaningful as teaching someone to avoid stealing because it deprives another person of something they hold dear? No, it is not. Revoking privileges may teach that person that stealing is something that should not be done, but it does not go into the reasons why it should be done. This form of penalty is arbitrary, and although it may provide superficial results, it cannot teach properly why stealing is immoral.
Moreover, this school of thought is likely to encounter stiff resistance from those who are disinclined to accept arbitrary rules and facile explanations like ‘Because I said so’. The inquisitive, intelligent child is unlikely to accept ‘This is wrong because I said so’ or ‘Don’t call your sister names or you’ll not be able to play video games for a week’ as an acceptable reason to avoid doing something. To such a child, an authority figure does not have ‘natural rightness’ vested in them, and fear is not an adequate motivation to avoid doing something. Rather, that child should be taught moral principles in a fashion that emphasizes their intrinsic value, as opposed to extrinsic rewards or penalties for doing something that is seen as immoral or inappropriate relative to the environment.
This happens to be one of the reasons why I am opposed to Christianity in its literalist forms: its morality is based on God’s eternal judgement, rather than morality for its own sake. Instead of teaching people to be good simply for the sake of being good, correct behaviour is predicated on avoiding hellfire and eternal damnation. Is it not better to behave morally simply because it is right, rather than being selfishly motivated out of fear of an Almighty God?
3 Comments
1 HoA^Seamus wrote:
I have to disagree with the objection to Christianity in its literalist forms, Richard. Consider this Catholic prayer (I’m not Catholic): O my God,
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins
because I dread the loss of heaven
and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they offend Thee, my God,
Who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace
to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Hell is only a motivator if one believes in it. You can’t believe in a God who damns people if you don’t believe in God. If you don’t believe in a God who damns people, then, by necessity, a God who saves people doesn’t exist (what would he save people from?). If you don’t believe in a God who wants to save people, then you can’t appreciate the love which would save you, hence, no motivation to reciprocate that love.
The concept of justice (doing what is just) is inexorably linked with love. A child who is brought up to believe this understands that morality is the act of returning God’s love. And of course, why would you give a damn that stealing hurts somebody, unless you were raised to believe that you are loved?
2 Fenners wrote:
I still believe that that form of morality is still based on the opinions of a supernatural being, rather than morality as a human value that should be adopted for its own sake, so my objection still stands. I do thank you for your comment, though, Seamus.
—Richard
3 Athena of athenivanidx wrote:
Christians, if they choose to, can also believe in morality for its own sake rather than just for the sake of pleasing God……..actually God prefers and demands that people do good for the sake of doing good, and He does not like us to boast about “doing good”……kindnesses should be done “in secret”, that is……if you do something for someone, don’t go tell it on the mountain…….
Jesus said………whosoever WILL, let him come……that means……follow Me if your heart is really in it. The same applies for morality…….that’s what I think anyway.
thoughts of Ivan of athenivanidx as written and also agreed to by Athena of athenivanidx