Write-ups

(Versión en castellano en Ecosofia.org).

The struggle between species on Earth is, for now, settled. In the quest for evolving new and better ways of surviving and replicating, we have found a powerful and general adaptation. Our brains are able of creating technology to manipulate matter, energy, and information, at a scale far beyond our physical limitations as primates. This adaptation puts us well above the other animals on Earth.

We are a remarkable species that over a few hundred thousand years has been consolidating its position as the dominant species. We have become formidable predators, and while there are still many ways in which the rest of the terrestrial biota can kill us, we are able of sterilizing vast areas of the planet, leaving only the flora and fauna that fits our interests.

But the key to our success, our brain, is not only a tool of survival and replication. Our brain can do many other things that are well beyond the interest of our genes for multiplying themselves. A human can decide, against its reproductive drive, to take contraceptives. A human can decide, against energy efficiency considerations, to spend a great deal of his life creating music, poetry, dance.

A human being may also decide to switch sides. Obviously a human can not stop being a human. But he can decide to advocate for non-human interests, for the interests of the other beings in our ecosphere. He can decide that he does not want its own species to continue growing and dominating the other species in the way they it has been doing it.

Talent is gaussian distributed, but responsibilities are exponentially distributed.

Spinoza wrote in 1667: "...I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them". Spinoza was a key figure in the development of the naturalistic view of the world, that rules out the supernatural, so his advice is to be taken seriously. You might be right...yet don't need to be rude.

This courtesy has not been given to atheists by organized religions. When Catholicism was strong in Europe, those who dared to say such heresies as "the Earth revolves around the Sun", where burned or thrown in jail. Even today, in countries where organized religions are still strong, such as the United States or Iran, there are laws against atheism. In Texas, a Christian stronghold, a (rarely used) law says that people an official may be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being". In Iran, an Islamic Republic, irreligious people have technically no right to live.

"Agnus Dei" means "Lamb of God". Jesus is considered by Christians as the "lamb of God". ¿What does it mean?

One of the central concepts of many moral systems is what some authors describe as "moral accounting". This is a moral metaphor indicating that every time we do something bad, we accumulate debt, and that by doing good things, we can pay that debt back.

To be sure, the idea is not that every one of us carries a book for keeping record of his/her moral debt, but that in our conception of morality it is deeply rooted that bad deeds have to be paid (as debts are paid).

Certain forms of self-punishment can balance our accounts and increase our "moral credit". This is the reason why the sacrifice of animals (valuable possessions) was, and still is, a prevalent religious practice. Muslims during their pilgrimage to Mecca sacrifice a goat, or other animal, to commemorate when Abraham was asked by God to kill his only son -- but in this case God does not appear in the last minute to cancel his order. Jews sacrificed animals in ancient times, and the idea that Jesus is the "lamb of God" is precisely that God offers something much very valuable to be sacrificed.

George Lakoff in "Moral Politics" explains very well how a large number of Christians (those with a "strict father" moral view) understand this story:

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I am writing to you, that, the last time they asked you about your religion, you said that you were Christian. I have something I want to say to you. I have an invitation for you. But I need to explain you first why this invitation.

Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodoxes and other minor denominations, constitute together the Christian faith, that groups roughly 1/3 of the population of the world. This chart shows the major religious (or irreligious) groups in the world, and the fraction of the population belonging to each one. Notice that none of them has the absolute majority.



These groups are not homogeneous. Not all Christians believe the same things, for instance Mormons believe that in general sins should be confessed directly to God, while Catholics and Orthodoxes think that all sins should be confessed to a priest. Shiite Muslims think that the direct successor of Mohamed is his son-in-law and cousin Ali. Sunni Muslims, which are the majority, think that the direct successor of Muhammad is caliph Muawiya, who defeated Ali in the battle for the succession. Anyways, even if they differ in the details, these religions agree in fundamental things, which is the reason why they can be grouped as shown in the chart above.

Only one of these groups is right, or at least only one of these groups is right in the fundamental issues. Either Mohamed is the prophet sent by god, or he is not. Both things cannot be true simultaneously. Either Jesus was born of a virgin woman, or he was born from a woman who had sex before with someone, possibly with his husband. Either Buddha was enlightened, or he was not. Again, we are speaking about issues that are central to each religion, not accessory.