The so-called religious morality is actually fetishization of things because that's all they know to do. Take fetishization/ sacralization of motherhood and children which is wrong because it diminishes women's liberty by creating a consensus that motherhood is a woman's most important role. When a society tacitly agrees that a morally neutral, biological process--procreation--is "miraculous," then any intervention in that process can be seen as desecrating, and any choice against motherhood will be met with widespread disapproval.
And this cultish preference for motherhood is so embedded in the culture that people judge one another for their reproductive choices. Like people who judge their friend's decision not to have children as "selfish", or not to mention someone's abortion because they couldn't afford another baby.
While the truth is that there is no intrinsic moral value to becoming a mother or not becoming one. A woman who pursues a pregnancy is merely prioritizing her life around motherhood. And a woman who has an abortion is prioritizing her life around not wanting to become a mother or around devoting herself and her resources to the children she already has.
But go to the Bible Belt states, and you'll see this widespread cultural reverence that motherhood is, a priori, always a higher moral or even religious good, with laws that are enacted that essentially force women into becoming mothers.
And this cultish preference for motherhood is so embedded in the culture that people judge one another for their reproductive choices. Like people who judge their friend's decision not to have children as "selfish", or not to mention someone's abortion because they couldn't afford another baby.
While the truth is that there is no intrinsic moral value to becoming a mother or not becoming one. A woman who pursues a pregnancy is merely prioritizing her life around motherhood. And a woman who has an abortion is prioritizing her life around not wanting to become a mother or around devoting herself and her resources to the children she already has.
But go to the Bible Belt states, and you'll see this widespread cultural reverence that motherhood is, a priori, always a higher moral or even religious good, with laws that are enacted that essentially force women into becoming mothers.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
