I certainly think that an unfounded belief in God, or Gods, should be socially acceptable. Just as an unfounded belief in No God should be acceptable. And the belief that "we just don't know" (and even the belief that the truth about the existence of a deity or deities is inherently unknowable) should also be socially acceptable.
I also strongly agree that one should not confuse morality with the belief in a deity, and especially with the belief in some particular deity. After all, belief in a deity has historically been a strong force for good in many, many people. And belief in a deity has also been associated with horrendous (I would say "evil" except that using that word that makes so many people too defensive to listen) actions by many, many people.
Sadly, I think that too many people find it sufficiently difficult and unpleasant to *think* about issues of morality to believe that it will become widespread in our culture to think about morality as a separate issue from religion. Heck, think about how hard certain Democrats worked to change people's confuggling the symbol of our country's flag with support for W's war in Iraq. They had to plain out state that "this flag is for all Americans, including those who oppose the war".
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Date: 2008-10-03 01:13 pm (UTC)I also strongly agree that one should not confuse morality with the belief in a deity, and especially with the belief in some particular deity. After all, belief in a deity has historically been a strong force for good in many, many people. And belief in a deity has also been associated with horrendous (I would say "evil" except that using that word that makes so many people too defensive to listen) actions by many, many people.
Sadly, I think that too many people find it sufficiently difficult and unpleasant to *think* about issues of morality to believe that it will become widespread in our culture to think about morality as a separate issue from religion. Heck, think about how hard certain Democrats worked to change people's confuggling the symbol of our country's flag with support for W's war in Iraq. They had to plain out state that "this flag is for all Americans, including those who oppose the war".