Lorelei Armstrong writes to the New Scientist complaining (tongue in cheek) that “atheism does not seem to lead to moral depravity, despite measured prejudices”. (New Scientist, 19 August, p 22)
“I was promised moral depravity. Which way to moral depravity?”.
Quite. Actually, non- believers are often those who help the old and the poor and who are less likely to end up in jail for dishonest acts. To suggest that because you are not a declared Christian you must be morally depraved is outrageous.
There is a very famous born-again, in-your-face, tele-evangelist in Texas called Joel Osteen who has a huge house, earns an annual fortune from his followers and has a private jet, among other goodies. He was recently in the news for doing absolutely nothing for the people, his own congregation included, made destitute and homeless by hurricane Harvey, compounding his un-christian behaviour by publically claiming that he is busy helping the sufferers. If all that is being said about him is true, then who is morally depraved?
One of the benefits of a non religious morality is the lack of an afterlife to persuade people to do the right thing. With the religious, you can seldom be sure whether they are acting morally out of genuine compassion, or simply because they are compelled to in order to achieve eternal life. But with the non religious, any good acts they do, they do because they care. They don’t need the reward of heaven or the threat of hell to act morally. I think a morality based on threats and rewards is the real depraved morality.
Moreover, the specific Christian conception of heaven is not a real paradise. In this afterlife, you wouldn’t have any memory of your friends and family who are in hell because they weren’t Christians, because that memory would sadden you, thus preventing heaven from being perfect. Personally, I wouldn’t want to end up in a place where crucial memories of my past life were lost. Heaven would also be an unfree place, because freedom means the freedom to do what is wrong, not just what God wants.