I was walking back to my apartment building from getting groceries when I was stopped by two Mormons. I don’t know what it is about my neighbourhood, but apparently Mormons think it is ripe for the pickings: I’ve been approached by pairs of Mormons several times in the past four months. Now, I’m a guy that loves a good argument, but most of the time I can’t be bothered and usually politely end their spiel with “Sorry, not interested.” Until that day the only other memorable encounter I had is when a pair tried to talk to me in the middle of a cross walk during heavy traffic.
This day was different. Until that day my feelings towards Mormons were that, even though I completely disagreed with their beliefs and reasons for believing in the words of a known recorded con man who obviously made up crazy stories about how he was visited by a Caucasian Native American angel (because, of course, the tan skinned Natives were descendants of those cursed by God for killing the good white-skinned Natives) who told him Jesus was coming to Utah for the apocalypse, Mormons always conducted themselves in a polite, nonabrasive, and friendly manner (part of the attraction, no doubt). Until that day I had never met a Mormon who was insulting or even angered when I would argue with them.
Well that day I met the exception to the rule. The particular young Elder who did most of the talking began with the usual spiel: if I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart, if I ever read the bible or the Book of Mormon, etc. Sounding perfectly like the smart ass that I am, I informed him that, yes I had read both books along with many others. During my ultimately useless university career I studied English and Philosophy, focusing on theology and ethics. The young Elder was surprised and assumed that I was a fully fledged follower of God because I was so learned in His works. Without regret I informed him it was not so: for when I made a genuine inquiry into the religious texts deemed so important by major societies, I found them lacking in reason, morality, and lacking any real application to the modern world. Ultimately, reading the Bible in its entirety set me on the path to Atheism.
The young Elder was appalled, and in a hot-headed display that shattered the image of the politely-nodding Mormon follower, told me “Sir, you are dead wrong!” (his silent companion actually winced at the volume of the young Elder’s voice- I did too- we were standing in a courtyard outside an apartment building in broad daylight). He continued, “Without the Lord’s guidance we would not know right from wrong, how do I know if I could trust you when you refuse to recognize the Lord’s authority?”
I should have just left the hot head. He was, after all, just spewing out practiced phrases that he was told to say when a subject was brought up. I doubt very much he even understood much of what he was saying, he was just told to say it (probably in a nicer tone though). But, hey, I saw an opportunity to use my otherwise useless university degree, and goading a hothead is fun.
I told the hot head that there are many sources where one can learn morality: from family, experiences, school, etc, and that the Bible was not unique source of moral wisdom. He challenged me to tell him of something that was “better than the Bible” for teaching, or imparting, morality. At this point I thought I would inject some humour into the situation because the hot head was taking it all too seriously.
With a smile I said, “Sesame Street.”
I explained how Sesame Street was far superior to the Bible in both its moral code and presenting that moral code in a consistent manner. On the spot I came up with a few of Sesame Street’s moral lessons:
- Be nice to everyone no matter what they look like (humans, freakishly tall birds, rainbow colored fuzzy monsters, sentient typewriters and sandwiches), where they live (bird nests, garbage cans), and non-threatening mental disorders they have (freakishly tall birds insisting on having a talking mammoth friend who no one else ever sees).
- Treat others how you would want to be treated (The ultimate Moral Golden Rule)
- Reading, writing, math, and learning other languages (including sign language) is important.
- Devote each day to the letter of the alphabet.
- The best way to cheer up, learn or count is with a song.
- And lo, when thou spot the cookie, thou shall grasp the cookie, and announce the cookie’s presence unto the world, and yea, thou shall eat the cookie with great exuberance.
At least the one not saying anything cracked a smile.
I would of went on if the hot-head did not dismiss me with a shake of his head and a angry-but-polite “Good day to you sir” (the emphasis on the you was his, not mine).
The whole incident got me thinking about my claim about the moral superiority of Sesame Street over the Judeo-Christian Bible (and if I might add the Quran as well). It is a strong claim, which I admit at the time I made I was really just joking and trying to lighten the mood. The more I thought about it though, the more the claim made sense.
It would be dishonest of me to say the Bible totally lacks any good moral lessons. It does cover the basics: don’t kill, don’t steal, and don’t covet things that are not yours (which is really related to stealing). Jesus is often quoted about loving your fellow man (not woman though…) and the importance of forgiving people who confess their wrongs to you. These are even several versions of the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have done unto you). The text is not without its inspiring stories and scripture.
There are problems though.
The first is the sheer magnitude of the rules put down by the authors of the Bible that make no sense and have no relevance to modern times. The rules for not eating shellfish [Leviticus 11:10], to not boil a calf in its mother’s milk [Exodus 23:19], and “solving” murders by sacrificing a goat (taking it out to the desert and beating it to death no less), totally outdo the common sense rules. The text is plagued by rules that most modern Christians simply ignore. Even most of the Ten Commandments have nothing to do with morality, they concern obligations to the Big Sky Daddy (do this because I said so) rather than moral arguments (don’t do this because this happens). The majority of the rules concern God’s apparent need to be assured that he is the One True God And You Better Not Disrespect Me (and, oh yeah, take Sundays off).
Secondly there are the brutal and violent rules that slap the Golden Rule in the face: according to the Bible, you may stone you child to death if they disrespect you [Deut. 21:18-21], burn people for not believing in your God [Exodus 22:20], and enslave people [Exodus 21:2] (the rules for enslavement are well detailed). Some claim that our laws (both Canadian and American) are based on the Bible seem to be ignorant of these rules that are obviously absent in the legal systems of both countries.
Thirdly is the inconsistently of the moral lessons. A lesson is laid down (like Thou shall not Kill and Respect Your Neighbour) and then in the next book, or even chapter, the lesson is broken when God commands his people to slaughter and pillage villages, sacrifice their sons, and kill a man for gathering wood on Sunday [Numbers 15:32] (which He admits is not the usual punishment, but He felt particularly hard ass that day). There are many rules that contradict each other and anyone trying to follow all of them would be a stressed out schizophrenic.
I know a common apologetic argument for these horrible things in the Bible is that Jesus, the great enlightened guy he was, made it so you don’t have to follow those crazy old rules. I am still waiting for someone to point out the passage that Jesus nullifies the Old Testament in such a manner (Okay, in all honesty, his sacrifice does nullify the need for you to sacrifice animals for your sins, but that’s it, nothing else). In fact, Jesus endorses the Old Testament [Matthew 5:17]- because without it there will be no prophesy for his to fulfill. He might be a little more wholesome compared to the Old Testament, but slavery is a-ok in his book [Colossians 3:22] and he adds the practice of self-mutilation for dealing with pesky sinful desires [Matthew 5:29].
Now Sesame Street does not have any segments which I know of where Grover or Elmo advise kids that it is wrong to kill people, but you could argue that that lesson is kind of inexplicitly covered by the teaching of the Golden Rule, and the Golden Rule is showered all over Sesame Street. Kids are shown how it makes people sad when others steal or say bad things about them. They are taught to emphasize with the ones they hurt by their actions and learn the essential Golden Rule. Children are taught how to deal with emotions such as love, hate, anger, fear, and sadness (Oscar the Grouch was specifically designed to show how to deal with negative emotions). Sesame Street is actually the first show ever to use behavioural science and psychology experiments and implement them in the program. For example, one of their constant concerns was the attention span of young children. To test if a particular show held a young child’s education they would use a test audience for every show by putting the audience in a room with two TV screens. On one screen the episode would play, the other random images that would change every 5 seconds. If the episode cannot hold the young test audiences’ attention for at least 60% of the time, the episode is sent back to conception. The producers of Sesame Street are very committed to educating children and keeping their attention, thus have a huge commitment to keeping their moral messages consistent and clear.
In the end there is nothing unique about the Judeo-Christian Bible in its moral lessons. Its uniqueness lies in the snapshot of history it provides of several related cultures that existed hundreds of years ago, but it is not the sole shining beacon of morality that its followers claim it is. Many followers cling to Dogma rather than scripture, relying on what a priest told them than what the Bible actually says. There are oodles of Dogma that do not appear in the Bible (The “Jesus is God” concept, transubstantiation, the existence of Limbo, the nature of Heaven and Hell, etc.), representing generations of people figuring out they just didn’t like what they read in the Bible or found it lacking and made some stuff up to add to the demand for explanations (and Church authority).
Morality comes in many forms and from many sources. Some are better than others and the only way to figure out which ones are better is by honestly and truthfully examining them and never assuming that one has the ultimate authority over humanity’s moral soul. Ultimately the source of one’s morality is not as important as how their morality takes form.
For me, the choice of between these two is obvious.
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