What It Means to Be Moral

June 24, 2019
Sociologist Zuckerman (Society Without God) presents a prodigiously well-supported argument against religion in this meticulous but narrow work. Zuckerman concedes that people of faith do much good in the world, but they can also do bad, specifically the “more dogmatic fundamentalists” whose regressive politics are oppressive and hypocritical. Moving the aim implied by his subtitle, he claims that “it is theism, rather than religion... that comprises the true target of this book.” Theism, in his argument, is inherently not loving and compassionate, since God’s creations include as much misery as joy—he cites smallpox, which has killed 300 million people throughout history, as a primary example. He concludes that basing morality upon such a cruel deity makes morality arbitrary. Zuckerman lines up all the arguments against belief from the well-known Socratic dialogue, through the Enlightenment philosophers, and into the modern era. After exploring the history of religious skepticism and atheism, he presents seven “secular virtues”—freethinking, living in reality, “here-and-nowness,” empathy, cosmopolitanism, acceptance of existential mystery, and scientific empiricism—and explores how they can form the secular solution to immorality. Unfortunately, Zuckerman never seriously grapples with the allure or longevity of religious traditions, which limits the scope of his argument. While this is a comprehensive introduction to religious skepticism, Zuckerman’s conclusions will likely only convince fellow secularists.

July 1, 2019
Why secular humanism, rather than religious dogmatism, can best foster morality. Expanding on the argument he has put forth in previous books, Zuckerman (Sociology/Pitzer Coll.; The Nonreligious: Understanding Secular People and Societies, 2016, etc.) asserts that morality based on obedience to God "limits our capacity for empathy and compassion, stymies our ability to take responsibility for our choices and actions, obfuscates the naturally evolved sources of ethical conduct, and ultimately thwarts moral progress" in "confronting the dire problems of the day." Those problems include racism, misogyny, global warming, child abuse, and economic equality, which, according to the author, must be addressed through "empathy-driven" secular humanism, not by "following rules written down thousands of years ago" that originated from "a magical deity." As many have stated before, "prayers will not end gun violence; only rational, human-enforced policies will do that." Although Zuckerman concedes that not all religious people base their ethical decisions solely on God's teachings, he criticizes dogmatic fundamentalists, for whom faith is the mainstay of their lives, as abdicating moral responsibility to assess and act on ethical issues. Yet, admitting that faith in God can offer believers comfort, support, and help in coping with personal trauma, the author does not argue convincingly why religion itself is antithetical to moral behavior rather than a factor of "our sentiments, our feelings, our needs, our opinions, our values, our judgements, our goals, our consciences, our culture, our society" that combine "to manifest as our human-based, socially constructed morality." Zuckerman is on stronger ground in his analysis of the biological, social, and psychological roots of humans' "inherent proclivity for empathy and fairness," considering cultural relativism and tracing the history of moral behavior to its current iteration that focuses on preventing, easing, or relieving suffering; offering help to the needy; comforting the vulnerable; working to increase health, happiness, well-being, fairness, and justice; and being compassionate, altruistic, and caring. These behaviors are well supported, he asserts, by secular attitudes that include freethinking--including familiarity with various religions--scientific empiricism, and cosmopolitanism. A thoughtful perspective on humans' capacity for moral behavior.

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August 1, 2019
Zuckerman's three-part overview of secular morality first explains why morals cannot be based on faith in God: God's existence can't be proved, his putative words are contradictorily interpreted, and his insistence on obedience nullifies moral responsibility. The book's second part maintains that what constitutes moral behavior is common knowledge, consisting of not inflicting harm, easing suffering, helping others in need, exercising compassion; that is, the many corollaries of the Golden Rule. The section finally lists the Secular Seven virtues: freethinking, living in reality, here-and-nowness, acceptance of existential mystery, scientific empiricism, cosmopolitanism, empathy. The last part, Challenges to Secular Morality, discusses immorality, genocide, secular responses to immorality, and moral relativism. Throughout, Zuckerman draws on research to show why and how secular morality works. Where necessary, he evinces other implications; for instance, reading deeper into findings indicating churchgoers are happier than nonchurchgoers to argue that social connection is as important as belief in God in producing happiness. Philosophy also informs the book, without slowing the pace or impairing the accessibility of this first-resort work on its subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)