To sustain moral behavior, people need more than simply a list of rules. They need to be people who have a comprehensive view of the universe—a religion, or an ideology that functions like a religion—that stands behind those rules. Only such a comprehensive view can explain the rules (supplying answers to the crucial “ethical content questions” mentioned above), organize the rules (so we know how to handle difficult ethical judgments), justify the rules (making them seem plausible, and therefore worthy of obedience), and sacralize the rules (making them sacred and truly moral, rather than merely prudent advice). Without a comprehensive view of the universe, no body of ethical rules remains coherent for long.

Greg Forster