A friend posted this meme, a friend who has moved away from Christianity and religion to what I might describe as a “Spiritual Scientism” — my description, not my friend’s. I thought to respond to my friend, but I decided against it; people have a “right” to express themselves without having “interlopers” challenge them. But the notion is so common now, and it sounds so plausible on its face, that some comment does seem merited.

As with most memes, this one is a bit too simplistic. Yes, there is a natural moral law tradition that perhaps transcends religions. And much of it is common to all religions. So, in general, we do not need religion to inculcate the most basic, most general common ethic. It is really this that C. S. Lewis argues in the opening of Mere Christianity, the existence of a universal, internal moral law that we all know and that we all violate. But, things get complicated beyond that. Love your neighbor as yourself, all men are created equal, forgive your enemies and pray for them, are not tenets that emerge from natural law, nor are they common to all religions. The “empathy” to which the meme appeals is neither truly empathy nor even natural moral law. It is the remnant of Christianity; it is that part of the faith that formed the Western culture, including its ethical understanding, and which the secular West has not yet managed to exorcise. Even some virulent atheists as Richard Dawkins are coming to recognize the moral and cultural heritage and value not of religion in general but of Christianity. He now describes himself as a “cultural Christian,” as one who loves hymns and Christmas carols and “sort of feel(s) at home in the Christian ethos” (National Catholic Register). Not that the faith needs to appeal to Dawkins for its defense, but, after the virulence with which he denounced Christianity, it is interesting to hear him say, “So I call myself a cultural Christian, and I think it would be truly dreadful if we substituted any alternative religion.” He is not alone among former and current atheists, some of whom seem to be awakening to the irreducibly and irreplaceable moral and cultural basis of the Western world. None of this stems from some general feeling of empathy. That reverses the proper directionality.

As for what emerges from lack of religion, I would reference the entirety of the 20th century: Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Rwanda, and a host of other secular genocides. Reject religion and empathy is soon lost, too.