Many Americans believe in the God of the Bible. Many Americans believe in the importance of what is right and good and just. There is, of course, overlap between those two sets of Americans. But they are not identical sets.

Among those who believe in God, I know from experience in discussing such issues on the radio, there are many who think that without such belief no true morality or values are possible. To their way of thinking, God is indispensable to morality. And that notion constitutes a part of the divide that afflicts our polarized nation.

It is in that context that I would like to initiate a couple of relevant lines in discussion. In this first one, I wish simply to raise a question. I've encountered an idea in my reading and I don't understand the reasoning behind it. And I'd like to see if anyone else here can clarify the issue.

THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF MONOTHEISM

This week I've been reading a quite wonderful book. It is entitled BIBLICAL LITERACY, and its author is Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. It goes through many of the basic elements of the Jewish religious texts -starting with Genesis and including much of the Old Testament- and it discusses many of the basic biblical stories in the most fascinating way. Telushkin has a knack for seeing what is strange or anomalous in each story, and delving into the possible meanings and implications of these knotty places.

It is a paragraph in the introduction to this book that I want to use here. That paragraph reads:

"[A]lthough monotheism is sometimes described as if its major contribution came down to numbers, to influence people to believe in one God instead of multiple deities, its major conceptual revolution had more to do with morality. Unlike the amoral, materially demanding pagan gods worshipped by ancient Israel's neighbors, the central demand Israel's God made of His people was ethical behavior, exemplified by such admonitions as "Justice, justice you shall pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20), as well as commandments obligating people to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger (see Laws 63-67). This biblical conception of God lay behind John Adams's assertion, ‘The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation...The doctrine of a supreme intelligent...sovereign of the universe... I believe to be the great essential principle of all morality, and consequently of all civilization."

Something about this puzzles me.

On the one hand, I can certainly understand how having a deity or a variety of deities who are concerned about justice and about ethical conduct generally would be a boost for morality in contrast with having one or more "amoral, materially demanding" deities.

But the point Rabbi Telushkin (along with John Adams) seems to be making has to do specifically with the moral implications of MONOTHEISM. And I don't see how the singleness of the God, as opposed to the moral nature of the God or gods, has this kind of implication.

Are they onto something? Or is this supposed monotheism/morality link a product of a confounding of variables, of an intellectual confusion?

[Click here to view the source article on NoneSeBlind.org.]

About author

Andrew Bard Schmookler's website, NoneSoBlind.org, is devoted to understanding the roots of America’s present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America’s Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states. Email to: andythebard@peacefulassembly.org