“Atheists are intellectual idiots”

This is a response to my How can we teach morality without religion opinion column published in the Stanger Weekly newspaper.

“IS it not obvious that we should do unto others as we would like to be done unto us?”

With reference to the column written by Sibusiso Biyela published on 20 February [2015]: since you referred to the Bible, I have a few things to say. What you referred to here is from Christ’s Golden Rule but the Bible contains and is so much more than that.

Some have accused Jesus of “borrowing” the idea of the golden rule from the Eastern religions, which you seem to imply by saying you don’t think you need the Bible for that. However, the texts for Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, cited below, were all written between 500 and 400 BC, at the earliest.

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" (Analects 15:23). Hindusim: “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you” (Mahabharata 5:1517).

Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." (Udanavarga 5:18).

These sayings are similar to the golden rule, but are stated ‘negatively’ and rely on passivity. Jesus’ golden rule is a ‘positive’ command to show love proactively. The Eastern religions say: “Refrain from doing”. Jesus says, “do!”

The Eastern religions say it is enough to hold your negative behavior in check; Jesus says to look for ways to act positively.

Conclusion: I consider atheists to be intellectual cowards who choose simplicity over complexity and difficulty. They too have a religion (which they deny) where they are the gods because they feel that   they can do everything themselves and prefer the theory of evolution (non-scientific), basically saying that morality was refined in animals before animals evolved into men and women. 

Sue Naidoo.

Related: Jesus Heals Today (letter)

How can we teach morals without religion?

I have often wondered how atheists and secular people go through life without god. I have asked myself what hope you have for the future without a supernatural being in your corner looking out for you. And I have wondered even more what morals mean to someone who is godless (god free?).

The first decade of my life was quite turbulent as my family consisting at least four children at a time and my mother never really stayed in one place for more than a year or two. In this way, I do not remember that we settled and subscribed to any church as a result.

I really got exposed to the life of church much later in the decade and only then was I smart enough to ask myself some questions. If memory serves me correctly, I think I was nine and suffering the pain of my first (of many) wisdom tooth. I asked myself, who is god?

From what I had seen at the time I concluded that god was there to keep human beings in order and to try to keep them from killing each other. Satisfied with my answer I reasoned that since I was a good person at the time that I did not need god and that I did not need religion.

As time went by and listened to priests from all manner of church, I started to realise that all that stuff they were saying from that black book made a lot of sense. In fact, I thought that all the good things the book said such as "do not steal", "do not kill another human being", e.t.c. were so obvious that I thought it a bit redundant to attend.

But attend I continued as by virtue of my mother, I did not have much choice in the matter. As time passed and I slept under the benches at "cross-night" overnight church services I noticed that every time the preacher man said these things, he promised the grownups and the other kids that we would go to heaven if we did these good things as god demanded.

This confused me quite a bit (existentialism can get very interesting for an adolescent). I mean, is it not obvious that we should do unto others as we would like to be done to us? Why the promise of bliss to add to it? And why perpetuate the promise of being branded a child of Satan if I am naughty?

I have always kept a cynical view of religion for these reasons. Anyway, when I first learned of atheism, I had this idea that they were devil-worshiping

freaks despite my own skepticism about god and religion. How can you seriously be a good person without having god guide you?

Through pop culture that I had witnessed from my more-than-fair share of television, I saw good deeds from people who did not acknowledge god in any of their works and trying this out myself I realised how much more pure it was to do good without the promise of heaven or prosperity.

Now, do not get me wrong, I am not goodie-two-shoes (this phrase always confused me), I have just been lucky enough to not get in a lot of trouble (relatively speaking) but I think I have a good grasp of what makes a good person good.

So, how do you live without god? How do you dissuade your children from evil without sending them to Sunday school? I think that you can be a good person by loving those close to you (and everyone else) and remembering to do to others what you wish to be done to you.

I don't think you need the bible for that.