Morality without God

[Rev. Rye]

What it all boils down to is personally knowing you shouldn't do to someone something that you never want done to you.

Theists need a deity to tell them they shouldn't do something, when for rational individuals it is understood to treat others how one wants to be treated.

There’s a reason that the Golden Rule has been a part of every single world religion. It’s not because a supernatural being is responsible for putting it there; it’s just common fucking sense.

I think one of my favorite versions of the Golden Rule comes from Rabbi Hillel. When challenged by a gentile to explain the whole Torah while standing on one leg (and bear in mind, in addition to what we call the Old Testament, it can also be defined to cover the whole of the Jewish law, which also includes the Talmud, a text so massive and so dense that the ideal way to read it is to study it in yeshiva, where you, a classmate, and a rabbi bicker over what exactly it’s even saying, one page at a time, for YEARS) he said:

That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it.

Kinda makes it all sound self-explanatory, dunnit?