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In one sense, I think, morality is the source of religion, not the other way around. I agree with Kant (with revision) that we believe in God in order to vindicate the moral order, which transparently is not perfected in this life, but may be under Divine Judgment, in the end. However, from an anthropological perspective, it seems likelier that morality grew up with religion. Just as in the case of the Hebrews fleeing Egypt, what we would call moral rules were intertwined with obviously cultic rules meant to purify, elevate, and set apart. When St. Paul spoke of the law written on the heart of the Gentiles, he was making a distinction between morality and cultic regimen, but it was a distinction late in coming, and not immediately evident to many of our ancestors. It is all part of the lore of the tribe, how to honor ancestors, worship gods, appease potentially malevolent spirits, and generally align the tribe with the cosmic order. Morality is what is left once one makes a distinction between practices special to the tribe and common to men, but it remains a question of fulfilling the larger purposes of our humanity........ |
