WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION OF SKEPTIC MAG INTERNET HOTLINE
This morning I attended a Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the Glendale
Chamber of Commerce, for which my mother does volunteer work and got me
a ticket. (Not to worry, I'm just collecting data here for the next
book, not undergoing a converstion.)
Laura Schlessinger was the featured speaker so, as you can imagine, there
was quite a turn out. According to my mom, in excess of 850 people -- AT
SIX IN THE MORNING NO LESS! They announced, by the way, that Laura just
this week surpassed Rush in the ratings and is now the most listened to
radio talk show host in America, and her syndication set an all-time record
for growth. She is now in over 440 stations.
Her lecture title: CAN YOU BE GOOD WITHOUT GOD?
The short answer: "Here and there, but not consistently and not
deeply."
The long answer (I taped the lecture but will paraphrase here): Laura grew
up in the "anything goes" 60s as an atheist. Her father was Jewish
but didn't really believe, and in any case her parents never even brought
up the subject. So, for her, "anything went" morally. This was
unsatisfying in the long run, but 5 years ago she found God and converted
to Judaism (since it was her father and not her mother that was Jewish,
she was not an "official" Jew, and so had to convert). Her
husband is now in the process ofconverting. They are orthodox, keeping
Kosher, obeying the Sabbath, etc.
(The inspirational scripture reading, by the way, I found most ironic.
From the new testament a high school senior read the passage from the
sermon on the mount:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt
thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the
beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the
mote out of they brother's eye."
From the Old Testament a Rabbi read a passage about how if you do not keep
the Sabbath you should be put to death. No kidding! I couldn't believe
it. No wonder Orthodox Jews are so serious about this.
The other irony of the day was that this "Prayer Breakfast" was
being billed as open to all religions. Yet everything from the prayer to
the gospel singers was centered around Jesus, yet their keynote speaker
was Jewish, who doesn't even believe in Jesus as the Christ (the
"annoited one"). And, of course, needless to say there was
absolutely nothing from Mohammed/Koran, Buddhism, Hinduism, native American
religions, etc.
Laura's argument was similar to the one she made to me privately a couple of
months ago when she quit my board, so I went to here to her say it publicly.
She has not backed off. The bottom line is that humans are innately evil,
inherently bad, naturally deceitful, murderous by nature, etc. In short, if
we think we can get away with something, we will.
Of course, we can't get away with just anything since we have laws and
customs, so we try are darndest to get away with what we can, hoping like
hell we don't get caught. Getting caught is a problem much of the time,
but what if you think you CAN get away with something. THEN, anything goes.
This is what many people do, she says, and she hears them every day on
the radio justifying their sins.
But, says Laura, YOU NEVER GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING. Why? You guessed it.
God is always watching. He can even see through concrete she explained (to
an off-handed one-liner about how even if you are in an underground bunker
and no one on Earth can see your sin, God still can).
That's it. Honestly. That's the depth of her argument. Nothing about these
moral principles being worthy of following in their own right. Nothing about
treating others like you would like to be treated. Nothing about human
rights, human dignity, etc. Just plain old "you'll be busted by Mr.
Big if you sin, so don't do it."
So, squirming in my seat, ready to burst at the seams, and to the possible
consternation of my Mom, I went up to the microphone for the Q and A. Here
is an exact transcription of our conversation:
Shermer "Hi, Laura. It's Michael Shermer," I said in my friendliest,
cheeriest voice.
Laura: "Hi Michael," she said with a big smile and in a very
friendly way, suddenly recognizing me (I haven't seen in her a couple of
years).
Shermer: "I have a six-year-old daughter I am raising to be a person of
character, courage, and conscious [the subtitle of one of Laura's books]. We
are teaching her to have the highest moral principles. I have no believe in
God at all. None."
Laura: "I know, I've read your magazine," she said, still smiling.
Shermer: "Skeptic magazine."
Laura: "Skeptic."
Shermer: "Are you telling me I cannot do this? That I cannot raise her
to be a moral . . . ." [person]
Laura (not smiling quite so much now): "Ultimately, no. Because you
will have to raise her with an analysis with what YOU think is right and
wrong and what maybe some other people think is right and wrong, and
obviously, therefore, it would be a matter of general OPINION."
Shemer: "Well, I think the principles you talk about are very sound
and I think most religious people have arrived at them through . . . ."
[reason and intelligence]
Laura: "You bring her up with God's laws and tell her there is no
ultimate authority for them -- that gives her flexibility to have her own
interpretation."
Shermer: "I would hope she would have the . . . ." [intelligence
and sensitivity to figure these out for herself]
Laura: "I do not have time for a long conversation . . . ."
Shermer: "I know, I know" [exit stage left -- a couple dozen
people behind me awaiting their turn]
After this I was swamped by a bunch of inquiring minds who wanted to know
what in the world a skeptic was doing at a Prayer Breakfast, including a
reporter for the Glendale News Press, who wrote down everything I said,
including my answer to the question: "What did you think of Laura's
lecture." My answer:
"I have to disagree with Laura when she says we cannot be moral without
God. That may be true for her and other people, but it is not true for me
and lots of good people I know." I told her my next book is entitled
WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN GOD. She asked: "Why DO people believe in
God." I said: "One reason is because everyone is so afraid that
without that ultimate authority, anything goes."
So, how's that for a Prayer breakfast?!
Michael Shermer
P.S. A couple of you gave me a hard time before about harping on Dr.
Laura, so allow me to state that I have no hard feelings about Dr. Laura
as a person, just this particular argument she makes that I find so,
absolutist, intolerant, and, well, even dangerous.
I use her as a representative of this position because she is so well known
and influential, but the argument itself is ancient and widespread
throughout history. I figure I can get people's attention by attaching
her to it than I can by quoting Saint Anselm or some other medievalist
unknown to the majority of American general readers, who I'm trying to
reach.
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