I had a conversation this past week with another elder, at the hot tube at my gym of all places, about “goodness” and God. I told him I did not believe in God, that I think of it as a man-invented explanation/responsible-party for that which is beyond our understanding.

I allowed that I thought there is likely some truth to the story of Jesus, except I saw Jesus as a man transformed for his time, rather than the saintly character we make him out to be.

The goodness part came up as a question of source. My friend wondered if goodness was not “from” God then from where? I pointed out his question automatically classified me as “not good” since not acknowledging his God I could not be considered to be a good person. “No”, he said. “Since I was raised Christian”, that was the source for me being a good person.

So, of course, I then wanted to know if that meant all Buddhist’s, Hindus, Muslims, etc. were excluded from being good? No, he allowed, they had their version of God as a source and guide. It appears that in his belief system God is the root of goodness; not people, not the conversational environments in which we are raised; rather an external non-human source.

The inquiry was enjoyable for me. People my age don’t generally want to delve into such deeply held belief conversations – too threatening to our hard wiring. As we exited the hot tub, I thanked my new African American friend for his willingness to inquire without thinking me a lesser person because I don’t believe in God. I reminded him that where we live that’s grounds for being shunned.

Later as I recalled the conversation, it seemed to me that for people raised and inculcated (as in hard-wired-in-our-brains) in religious traditions, responsibility for “goodness” becomes immersed in these external religious sources rather than in ourselves. And that we are blind/in-denial-of our own hard wiring.

To be confronted with the possibility that humans may be born innately “good”, rather than led to “goodness” modeled by external sources, would require that we be willing to be responsible for goodness and all that pours forth from it on our planet, rather than assign the source/responsibility to deities we invent. 

Of course to do so means we also be responsible for other side of the coin - the selfishness, wickedness, spitefulness, viciousness, wretchedness so apparent in our cultures.

Not a comfortable thought.