I started thinking about this question after watching a debate between an atheist and a theist. The theist asked the question, “Where do you ground your morality?” I wondered what an interesting question that was! Where do we ground our morality?
The first and obvious answer that comes to my mind is: from society. Yes, we find our moral values in society. But, that can’t be true.! Because not all the people in a society behave the same way. Some men in my village beat their wives. Do they not find it morally wrong or they know it’s wrong and still do it? Muslim people in my village marry their cousin and Hindus find it morally absurd.
Then you might think that the religion is the source of morality. But then, not all people who belong to the same religion have the same moral code. Abusive husbands and sensible ones, for example, may belong to the same religion. A Hindu in my area thinks that it’s a sin to kill an animal for meat whereas a Hindu in Chennai might have no problem eating beef. Either one of them has got the idea wrong or they are not Hindu at all. Kasab was as muslim as APJ Abdul Kalam; what motivated them behave differently?
Maybe morality is personal. Everyone has their own moral code, irrespective of religion and society. It maybe influenced by the religion and society, but ultimately, a person designs their own moral code. That has got some issues too. A person might be entitled to donate for charity to a orphanage and the same person would not even look at the little girl begging outside a temple. In both cases, the beneficiary, has lost their parents, but is discriminated by the donor. People just don’t stick to their own moral code.
A general rule of thumb given by the atheist community about morality is this simple: don’t do anything with others that you would not want to be happened to yourself. Well, I am a person with a huge patience level. I don’t mind getting teased or getting shouted at. (Honestly, I rarely get angry!) Does that give me a licence to shout at and tease people? Will you forgive the murder driven by revenge?
Maybe morality is a linear combination of social, religious, and personal values. The coefficient of these factors might change person to person.
If our morality is based of something fundamental outside us, why does it change so drastically? For the most of the history polygamy was considered okay in Hinduism. Hindu Gods have had many wives and so have Hindu kings. But then why do Hindus cringe at someone having more than one wife? Why do they outcast them? Christians supported slavery for the most of History and now they will stand against it. Certainly the scriptures have not changed but their follower have changed their viewpoints.
To conclude, there is not one thing to base our morality. We are already stuck in the problem of moral relativism. And before accusing someone what they are doing is morally wrong, we should ask ourselves: on what moral grounds is it morally wrong? Sorry Sam, absolute morality can not exist.
Image Credits: This painting titled Krishna with His wives is painted by Tushar Sharma , and hangs at International Indian Folk Art Gallery.