Credit were it’s due.

I watched the Southpark "episode all about the Mormons" and it laid out the "dumb" story of Mormonism's founder, presented to demonstrate it’s self-evident nonsense. It then ends with a speech by a Mormon character that claims his happy life is due to Mormonism. That this is what mattered not the silly reasons behind the belief. This was interested me as is demonstrated the inherent problem with religions of this nature. When a person has a happy life they credit it to their faith, without thinking. Now no one disputes theists can lead good productive lives, but to thank the bible, book of Mormon, Koran etc, is the principle error. They seem to think happiness in general can only be derived from their doctrine or at least this is true for them.

It is assumption that their faith is the cause of happiness and the source of their good deeds that bothers me, a good person is a good person, faith can be the inspiration but to them its more than that. Even if they admit the theistic claims are probably nonsense, they still can't see that the faith itself just an unnecessary middle man. That faith may not do any harm, but it just worries me that faith has this claim, when someone is happy they are not just happy but "the spirit s working through them" etc. Credit were credit is due, instead of thanking god for the meal at grace how about thanking the person who cooked/delivered it? When you do good it should be for pure motives, it is not better for doing it in the name of god. To assume your current happiness is due to your good deeds, that there is some kind of balance in this world is fallacious, and selfish, and when they aren’t happy they assume the balance will be sorted out in the next life. The act is no better or worse for being dedicated to something, anymore than the dedication at the beginning of a book or film makes it a better book or film. To say doing good without Jesus (or whatever) is pointless or somehow less than a Christian (good) act is unreasonable.

You cannot have true altruism in Abrahamic religion, as with an omnipotent deity everything good thing you do is seen and counted in your favour, and you get what you "deserve" by the standards of the observer. The definition of altruism is an act done to benefit others at your own cost, or at least no benefit to you. How can you have that in a faith were you will always ultimately benefit, were everything is counted and considered? The good you do is defined by what god wants you to so its what you think you will rewarded for, Christian good, Christian reward etc, not good by the standards of others outside your faith, they may regard what you are doing as wrong, intrusive, immoral.

So that's good deeds out the window, even if all agreed with your ideas of good, the result of your deeds may be the same for the beneficiary but the motives are impure. As for the happy life, it wouldn't be happy if circumstances were different, if it's the circumstances you thank your faith for, or more precisely you god for, then again its misdirected credit, and no reflection on the faith itself. If we have a happy life we should consider ourselves fortunate, and think about who we should really give thanks to, not just put it down to whatever faith we have. You think your faith gives you a happy family life and community? Take it away, the community will still be their, the family will still be their, as will your happiness, unless it is entirely dependant on your "relationship" with god, in which case you need help.

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