Standalone Essays · Belief and Institutions

Deeds, Not Dogma

Regardless of whether you agree with a particular religion, many claim to have one thing in common: ethics. For example, almost all religions teach a version of the Golden Rule. Atheists also agree that following the Golden Rule is a good way to live, so it’s clear that having a religious outlook isn’t necessary to be an ethical and compassionate person.

Most people think of the process as going in one direction, whereas I think it actually runs in the other. Let me illustrate. Did people think of Zeus as throwing thunderbolts and then apply it to lightning? Or did they instead try to explain the source of lightning and imagine an angry god displaying his power? In a similar way, I don’t think that religions developed and then decided to make ethical pronouncements. Instead, people all over the world tried to grapple with ethics and develop a consistent basis for their socially acceptable behavior. They tried to explain it within their separate social and cultural norms and this produced the plethora of religions we see today. Religion is not the source of ethical behavior. Religion is the byproduct of people wrestling with their ethics.

I do not see any evidence that religion offers any more examples of ethical behavior than we can find among agnostic or atheistic folk. Most religions admit that non-believers should have good ethics. This is why their god (gods, goddesses) are justified in condemning the non-believers for their sin. They should be able to be ethical, and yet are not. Isn’t this the very essence of the religious notion of sin?

It is worth noting, too, how rare tolerance actually is. There are several religions that promote a more inclusive approach to belief, rather than an exclusivist one. Buddhism does not have a concept of sin or hell, and does not teach that non-Buddhists are condemned or excluded from enlightenment. Jainism is a non-theistic religion that emphasizes non-violence, compassion, and respect for all living beings; Jains do not believe in a supreme God or eternal punishment, and they do not condemn or exclude non-Jains from spiritual progress. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion that embraces a wide range of beliefs and encourages individual spiritual exploration. But three religions out of approximately 10,000 worldwide is a small percentage. That would place the percentage at approximately 0.03%. This highlights the relative rarity of non-exclusivist belief systems among world religions.

I’ve decided to set aside futile arguments over things like transubstantiation or the New Moons and focus on more relevant topics, such as caring for the disenfranchised, feeding the hungry, and resisting evil in the world. True religion, I’ve come to understand, is seen in simple acts—like kneeling to wipe a child’s tears or tying a pregnant lady’s shoe.

Here’s a look at how different traditions agree on this point.

Christianity / Judaism Isaiah 1:17 CSB: "Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause."

James 1:27 The Message: "Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world."

Islam Qur’an 2:177, translated by Talal Itani: "Righteousness does not consist of turning your faces towards the East and the West. But righteous is he who believes in God… Who gives money, though dear, to near relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the homeless, and the beggars, and for the freeing of slaves…"

Hinduism Bhagavad Gita 17:20: "Charity given to a worthy person simply because it is right to give, without consideration of anything in return… is stated to be in the mode of goodness."

Buddhism The Buddha, M. 27: "…[speaks] the truth and is steadfast in truthfulness, trustworthy, dependable, straightforward with others. He reconciles the quarreling and encourages the united… His speech is gentle, pleasing to the ear, kindly, heartwarming…"

Sikhism Guru Angad Dev, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 62: "Everyone speaks of truth, but truthful living is higher."

Humanism (A Non-Religious Stance) The Amsterdam Declaration 2022: "Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that affirms the dignity, worth, and potential of all people… Humanists are guided by reason and evidence, committed to human rights, social justice, and building a more humane and sustainable world."

Indigenous Traditions While Indigenous cultures often have no central text, their spirituality is deeply rooted in ethical living. The focus is on stewardship of the land, reciprocity in relationships, and prioritizing the well-being of the community. Their "texts" are the land itself, and the stories and traditions passed down through generations.

This verdict is not only the conclusion of an outsider looking across traditions; it is pronounced within scripture itself. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21–23) So even Jesus agrees that ethics trumps religiosity—even fervent religion that seems to result in miraculous acts! James, the half-brother of Jesus, taught, “What good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him?… Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do.” (James 2:14, 18) Though I am no longer religious, I guess I’m going to side with James on this one.

It is striking how these seemingly disparate traditions—religious and secular, ancient and modern—converge on this fundamental point. True spirituality, or a truly good life, is manifested not just in the beliefs we profess or the rituals we perform, but in how we treat others and the world around us. It is not what you claim, but what you practice that matters.

If deeds are the measure, then the thing this ethic must resist is what I call “the world’s way.” I use it in the sense of a culture that promotes self-seeking narcissism and materialism. It is the part of culture that applauds the notorious and the infamous and seeks to not only be entertained by their vile behavior but to emulate them. I use it in the sense of the conspicuous consumerism that is foisted upon us as a patriotic effort to achieve “the American dream.” I use it in the sense of succumbing to the machinations of the elite and yielding to our lesser xenophobic nature. They split and divide us, much as the British did the Hutus and the Tutsis, creating artificial tests that supposedly make the other people less human than us. Big nose versus little nose. Republican versus Democrat. American versus Russian. It’s all artificially constructed. It all has no real meaning or weight other than what we grant it.

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