1 of 3: The Pre-Religion, and Pre-Human, Roots of Morality

A reading of my post on the blog site "Clashing Culture" - http://clashingculture.wordpress.com

This essay, "The Pre-Religion, and Pre-Human, Roots of Morality," is one of the forty-four endnotes in my book "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer." See http://www.booklocker.com for free PDF sample chapters.

(This link will bring you right to the page where you can find the PDF file just scroll down to #5: http://search.booklocker.com/search-bl.cgi?q=dialogue+with+a+christian+prosel...)

My four YouTube channels:

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddGates - my musician channel

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddAllenGates - where I discuss the ideas in my book "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer" (a dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a Socratic skeptic)

- http://youtube.com/user/ToddAllenGates2 - where I discuss the ideas in my book "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" (such as "Why do we have to work?" and "Why do we have to use money?" and "How should we define 'success'?")

- http://youtube.com/user/BlasphemyPiano - where I play the background piano accompaniment for songs in Nick Gisburne's book of lyrics "Blasphemy! Anthems for Atheists."

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[billygundum]

A link to that ape rescue would make this video more, idk, marketable.

[ToddAllenGates]

@billygundum

> A link to that ape rescue would make this video more, idk, marketable.

For some reason, the links to that video never last very long -- they get outdated quickly as users take down the video. Not sure why. Anyway, do a google search on the gorilla's name--Binti Jua--and you'll get lots of hits on the story.

[ShalomYal]

I'm soooo excited to find your videos. I wish I could "hang" with you and talk over a coffee and/or a good beer

[ToddAllenGates]

@ShalomYal

> I'm soooo excited to find your videos.

TOO kind -- thank you!

> I wish I could "hang" with you and talk over a coffee and/or a good beer

Virtual conversations via YouTube comments are the next best thing!

[Rhonda9]

It bothers me that so little respect for the animal kingdom is given. We can learn a lot from their ability to cooperate with each other. There used to be a large pack of dogs (I counted 8 one time) that traveled the streets when I lived in the city. They were strays that hung together and would appear in my back yard periodically. They only stayed long enough to rest. Any sign of a human and off they would go! Domestic dogs who instinctively understood innate advantages to cooperation/loyalty.

[ToddAllenGates2]

> watch?v=Gp7cZ0AWxfI For the gorilla saving the boy

Yes, that's the one - thanks for the link!

[SirWinstonChurchill]

I'm an agent of chaos...

Sowing seeds of doubt with logic will destroy the hackneyed tenets you cling to, such as your hypocritical christian philosophy of "spread the other cheek."

You are nothing but a pathetic christian in reverse with the very same hackneyed tenets. Your phantasmagoric ideals are my enemy more than you are.

You are what Nietzsche called an "underhanded christian" in Twilight of the Idols.

[SirWinstonChurchill]

@ToddAllenGates

There is no esoteric hobgoblin of morality, it only exists in the minds superstitious men who are frightened by their own mortality.

[SirWinstonChurchill]

@ToddAllenGates

Morality is nothing but your deceptive replacement for the "avoidance of sin," an esoteric hobgoblin you created, hoping falsely that I would bend my knee in acquiescence.

It is no different than any witch doctor dancing around a burning idol dispensing curses or blessing to a child frightened of the fire.

[SirWinstonChurchill]

@ToddAllenGates

And I thought my jokes were bad...

How about a magic trick?

I'm going to make this pencil disappear.

SLAP! BAM!

It's... GONE!

[ToddAllenGates]

@SirWinstonChurchill

> You have all these rules and you think they'll save you.

I don't think following the so-called Golden Rule will "save" me, but it's still our best bet when it comes to finding steady work, a steady spouse, raising a stable family, etc.

> The only way sensible way to live in this world is without rules

I'm not sure what you mean by "without rules" .... but I know that sociopaths tend to be shunned (once people figure them out), or end up in prison.

[ToddAllenGates]

@SirWinstonChurchill

> Nature is pure warfare, pure chaos

Nature is definitely savage, and when I watch hyenas rip apart a baby wildebeest in front of its distraught mother, it stuns me that theists think this is the design of a Kindly God.

But within the tribe, cooperative behavior has evolutionary advantages. And we find cooperative traits in all social animals: wolves, hawks, vampire bats (who will vomit excess blood to help feed hungry relatives), etc.