Forget morals. Right and wrong. Good or bad. Judgement is “original sin”. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL.
Why we need spiritually focused laws and leaders, from a scientific perspective.
Simple. Entropy. If the natural order of things is to fall into chaos and disorder and, if we wish to maintain some semblance of civilization, we need to create order for our behaviours. The greater good is always in everyone’s self interest.
We, humans, as “separate” “individuals”, have a perspective that requires definition. Yet, the material world has been proven to be merely the perception of concretely isolated manifestations of energy. Something like bulbs on a string of christmas lights, we are “wired” to both to shine independently and also, not or, connect with our context.
This, the human condition, is where the need for spirituality must be acknowledged. We are all connected. We are interdependent. This truth, and the need for us to be in awe (for clarity – LOL – defined as: a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder) of it, is why belief systems developed in the first place. Look at any civilization and you will see it’s earliest form come from a spiritual source. The acknowledgement of the whole we are part of. That we have access to. The fundamental interconnectedness of things (thank you Douglas Adams).
Likewise, we see them disintegrate as structured societies become narrowly focused on the individual and the material. Forgetting the experience of wisdom and positive intent that inspired the first blueprints. Ultimately destroying the very foundations they are built on. Falling back to chaos. Entropy.
Why we see the repeated themes and references in religions isn’t plagiarism (good grief!). It is the inherent, common, collective knowledge that can only be attained by focus on, and maintenance of, the connections by which the energy that is the universe… GOD (good orderly direction)… whatever you want to call it… flows through each of us. Which we, in turn, inevitably try to direct to our own, individual ends. Repeating the cycle again and again.
If we have any hope of not being hurled into, what I believe will be, the darkest age humanity has ever faced, we must return to a collective and spiritual focus. Global society, now driven by the institutionalization of addiction that is capitalist consumer culture, needs a spiritual remedy. A paradigm shift. The empirical evidence demands it.
Ironic afterthought: Why did christianity survive to become the systemic influence it did? Jesus originally taught his followers to live free of the illusions of ownership and material wealth that human civilization creates. Please note: Christ is a religious ideal. Jesus is “The Word”. Christian institutions do not ask anyone to actually follow the words of Jesus. Oft, they rationalize ignoring them. Part of a book I need to write…
Disclaimer: Although I come from a Judeo-Christian frame of reference, I do not prescribe to any one belief system. Definite faith is an oxymoron.