McDonald: "Now a lot of people find great comfort from religion. Not everybody is as you are---well-favored, handsome, wealthy, with a good job, happy family life. I mean, your life is good---not everybody's life is good, and religion brings them comfort."
Dawkins: "There are all sorts of things that would be comforting. I expect an injection of morphine would be comforting---it might be more comforting, for all I know. But to say that something is comforting is not to say that it's true."Sheena McDonald and Richard Dawkins interview, The Vision Thing, August 1994
It may be comforting to believe that there is a final arbiter of justice. However, that conception goes counter to what religion itself says, as it portrays God as a giver of eternal punishment. But most importantly, this is not a comfort to the victims of religious politics and violence in the world.
One's comfort is irrelevant to reality. If we commit ourselves to reason, then we commit ourselves to follow reality, not fairy tales. This prerequisite of rationality is our foundation to reject religious morality and accept rational virtues as our moral guide. I will complete the second half of this article by examining two complex aspects of spirituality and morality.
3. Individualism.
Individualism is based on the rational understanding that only I can think for myself, only I can act for myself, only I benefit or suffer for myself. This is intuitive at a basic level: we know very well that no one can eat for us, or breathe for us. It is true of everything else. I cannot get someone else to think for me, or act for me. At best, I can believe someone else who tells me what to think and how to act, which is irrational.
