[quote=HeySeuss]
So I have to pretend that it's true; there's a big father in the sky enforcing the law in order to answer the question?No thanks. I'm going to point out that absent the certainty that there is divine retribution, placing faith in it as a means of stabilizing society is definitely like sailing in a leaky vessel. I suppose if you're arguing that it's cool to gull people into believing there is a great father in the sky thundering down on wrongdoers for political purposes, I certainly agree -- though I find the practice dishonest. Of course, I'm also not in politics.
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Or you tell them that they won't be punished if no one sees them. Sailing in a vessel with no bottom. Every moral argument or instruction you would otherwise give is the same: Behavior X hurts others, causes Y societal malady, etc. You are just adding incentive.

No society which has categorically rejected a higher power has been the better for it. Not revolutionary France, not Russia, not China, not North Korea, not Cambodia, not Vietnam. Not a single one, for how many trials? Talk about being unscientific, why would we try it again?