 I try not to talk about religion on this channel. In my opinion, nothing is less interesting than someone else's religious views, so I attempt not to inflict mine on others. However, there's a young man I've been subscribed to for some time because I saw him as a rational Christian, someone who could think critically about issues. In his latest videos, I think he's doing his best to prove me wrong. The topic is the comments by YouTuber JesusFreak777 about following the example of Abraham. JF hoped that if God truly appeared to him and commanded him to kill his child that he would do it. It was a very minor comment, a throwaway point, and a long video when viewed in context. As I understand, JF took the video down when all the furor started. I hate YouTube drama. It turns our focus inward and generates a series of opinion videos and flame wars. It's divisive without accomplishing anything. The only reason I'm going to engage on this is that it illustrates a point I've made before, when we take our morality from an external source or an authority figure, when we create a system that punishes doubt, that's when people get hurt. This bothers me especially when children are the victims, as in the story of Abraham. In religion, doubt is something to be overcome. Doubt is the door to the staircase to hell, they tell us. Faith leads to a blessed reward. The faithful are beloved of God, the doubters are fools who will be cast into the fire. Is it really so straightforward? I want you to imagine an axis. On one end is faith, so strong you can bend steel around it. Faith that moves mountains, faith that motivates one to strap a bomb to one's chest. Faith that brings one to do the will of a God, regardless of consequences. On the other end is perfect doubt, disbelief. If Zeus stepped off a cloud, fired lightning bolts at Medusa, and then poofed into existence a rock so big he can't lift it, you'd still disbelieve, you'd insist on sequencing Medusa's DNA. Most of us fall somewhere between. We accept a mother's love with a high level of faith. We accept that the world exists even when we close our eyes. Maybe we're skeptical of fast-talking salespeople even when we agree with what they're saying. We might have strong doubts about Bigfoot or Leprechauns. If confronted with one, we might say something like, I can't believe my eyes. We distrust the voices in our head if they told us to do something contrary to our nature. Now which end of the spectrum of religious doubt and faith is responsible for the needless deaths of children? For the suicide bombings? For the rise of cults and tyrants, theocracies and despots? Is it too little faith in an external authority or too much? This is not a symptom of religion per se. It's a symptom of fundamentalism, the absence of doubt. Some religions demand faith. They define morality as an absence of doubt in the law given in scripture. They say that true morality, the highest morality, is found in a book. The book must be believed because to doubt it is a sin. The story of Abraham and Isaac is, to me, a perfect example. It's a story about the faithfulness of a man who was so devoid of doubts that he was prepared to commit an act that anyone could see was wrong, the sacrifice of a child. The story is meant to illustrate that the virtue of faith is always rewarded. I find this reprehensible, and I wish I could petition to have it removed from the Bible, along with the story of Job, another person incapable of normal doubts and skepticism about the benevolence of the supernatural. So many people are motivated by this kind of story to do things that they have an inner conviction is wrong. The question put to Jesus Freak specified that there was no doubt with regards to the true identity of the source of the commandment to kill his child. It is his God without doubt. Therein lies the problem. For Jesus Freak 777 to pick up a gun or knife and end his child's life, he would have to have removed sufficient doubt that not only was the source God, but that God was good. That God had a plan, that God's plan outweighed the value of his child's life. JF is weighing his religious doubts against the precious life of an innocent, and hoping he's devoid of any doubt. What are the costs of doubt? Well we might doubt if our actions will have any effect, thus leading to harm by inaction. We might doubt our own position enough to be victimized by someone with greater faith. Imagine a woman unsure if she should speak out against an unjust law. Doubt is not an absolute good, immune from all criticism. We need some faith to get us through the day. I wouldn't want to fall at either end of the doubt-faith spectrum, but somewhere in between. As a general rule, I always have greater faith in my intuitive morality than in scripture or other external sources. If there's a conflict, I always bias towards doubt. This is why I reject the idea of an objective morality, because of the premium it places on faith in external authority. Jesus Freak was celebrating his absolute lack of doubt in a God that is absolute goodness, infallible, and omnibenevolent. I can't admire that. I don't think he poses any harm to his children. But it is the very reason that many children die needlessly. Every year, children are denied medical care, blood transfusions, antibiotics, and they're actively harmed by the very person who should be protecting them. This can come in the form of physical abuse, such as the mutilation of female genitalia, or psychological abuse, such as making children feel worthless or afraid, or it can even be a lethal use of force on a scriptural basis, such as the stoning or burning of children by otherwise rational people who didn't exercise that small modicum of doubt needed to question their own righteousness. Let me be very clear on what I'm saying and not saying. Religion does not cause child abuse. However, fundamentalism or fanaticism do. When people celebrate the virtue of faith, of absolute trust in God's, in scripture, or in authorities, they fail to recognize the great harm it can also do. Faith is not a pure good, but neither is pure doubt. We need both, and the courage to listen to our own hearts, even if our inner convictions violate scripture. Thanks for watching.