Q&A: Secularism versus Religiosity
Secularism versus Religiosity
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
What do you think of my following claim?
A secular person is on a higher level than a religious person.
Reasoning: it is easier for a religious person to be more moral and value-driven, because he has a cognitive framework that pushes him in that direction; in his mind there is God, Heaven, Hell, and other such things. By contrast, the secular person is required to reach a high level of morality, etc., on his own and without external assistance.
I thought to compare this to an honor-system test versus a test with a teacher supervising.
Presumably, the percentage of cheaters on a test with a teacher would be lower, but the level of those who do not cheat on an honor-system test is higher. But apparently we still need God, because the human being is a weak creature.
Answer
There is such an aspect, but it is only one among several.
A. This applies only to a secular person who maintains a high level of morality even when there are no other motives or rewards involved (social ones, for example). Not every secular person is like that, of course (and neither is every religious person). This is not a comparison between a religious person and a secular person, but between a religious person with high morality and a secular person with high morality.
B. Such a person is not consistent, because morality has no validity without faith / belief (see Column 456). But still, in such a case it is possible to have an ignoramus who is pious.
C. There are other aspects in terms of which he is not better. The religious aspect, mainly.
In any case, this is of course not a reason to abandon faith / belief.
Discussion on Answer
There is a claim that the religious and Haredi communities have outsourced morality to religion.
And whatever does not appear in religion—or even if it does appear, and explicitly, they set it aside through casuistic argumentation—and in practice they do contemptible and lowly things that a moral person would never even think of doing.
But for them it is permitted.
Why?
Because it is not part of what they connect to religion, and they do not recognize moral values and their validity for life if it does not appear in their interpretation of religion—or even if it does appear, if it seems to them not to be part of their communal identity.
Is the Rabbi familiar with this?
I know the claim, and there is something to it.
It pretty well explains how the religious and Haredi communities support a state of shocking moral depravity—foisting on the nation someone accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust,
choosing Efi Naveh to appoint judges despite what is known.
The lowliest of the low among the nations.
Ah, and one more note. We need God for this matter not because we are weak (and need a stick), but because without Him morality is not defined and has no validity. And besides, whether we need Him or not—He exists.