Christian ideology employs a carrot and a stick to influence behavior. The carrot — a life everlasting in heaven; the stick — eternal torment in a fiery pit called hell.
According to the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg and his theory of moral development, the desire to obtain reward and/or avoid punishment represents the first level of morality, the lowest of six.
The child who refrains from hitting his sister simply because he does not want to get punished by mom or dad is exhibiting basement level moral reasoning. At a higher level, say #4, in which actions reflect social concern and conscience, it wouldn’t matter if the boy got caught or not: he would refrain from hitting his sister not because he feared punishment or anticipated reward, he would do it for more self-less reasons including concern for his sister’s happiness.
Given that no statistically significant differences in “upright” behavior has been found between the theist and the atheist (rate of divorce, assault, theft, etc., and controlling for educational achievement and income), couldn’t it be argued that by lacking a belief in a post-mortem benefits/punishment package, the atheist’s good behavior reflects a higher level of development, at least cognitively, than those who believe in heaven and hell?
Do the Bible and Christianity, by emphasizing afterlife consequences, infantilize our thinking about right and wrong?
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Tags: atheism, Christianity, morality
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