Morality without God
See Note 1 below “Shouldn’t we have a foundation for our morality?” A close relative of mine asked me the other day when I mentioned that I am happy without God. God gives us the reason for being good people: that’s his simple argument. I told him the story of Dr Rieux. Bernard Rieux is a physician and the protagonist of Albert Camus’s novel The Plague . The novel is set in Oran, a city struck by a devastating plague. As the disease spreads, the inhabitants are confronted with suffering, death and the collapse of ordinary life. The plague becomes more than an epidemic. It is now a test of how human beings deal with suffering. Why so much suffering? Why do innocent children too die? Is there indeed a God who cares? Can God be an answer? There are people who find their answer in God. And there are people who simply roll up their sleeves and do the best they can to alleviate the suffering without bothering about God. Dr Rieux belongs to the latter category. Dr Rieux doesn’t need...
