Belief in a Just World
This might get a little ranty…
“Life ain’t fair,” we all like to say, but nobody really wants to believe it. We go out of our way to deny it. In fact, all of the world’s major religions, and many secular ideologies, reinforce our belief in an inherently just world... despite the fact that it’s wrong.
- Judeo-Christian religions put their faith in a benevolent deity who has a plan for everyone, even if that plan is incomprehensible.
- Taoism proposes that all evil arises from living in disharmony with nature, whose laws are inherently fair.
- Buddhism admits that life is unfair, but assures us that there’s an escape clause for those who work hard enough.
- Similarly, the American Dream contends that hard work and playing by the rules are all anyone needs to succeed.
Even conspiracy theorists would rather believe in a world controlled by malevolent, secret masters than one in which billions of people get up every day and pursue their own conflicting interests.
Look: Bad things happen to good people, because bad things can happen to anyone. I’m not saying the world is random or malevolent. I’m saying it’s mindless. It doesn’t share our sense of fair play. It’s just following a chain of cause-and-effect, where the causes are amoral and the effects are applied indiscriminately.
If we want life to be fair, we have to make it fair.
Life ain’t fair. It’s one of the unpleasant truths that make it tough to be an atheist, but pretending otherwise doesn’t make anything better. In fact, that’s the second biggest problem with the belief in a just world: it makes us complacent. (The first problem is that it’s wrong.)
If we want life to be fair, we have to make it fair. Medicine, government, systems of social justice… these are all things that we, as human beings, made for ourselves. We make them anew each and every day. No supernatural force or false belief does it for us.
If you want to do the same thing in your own life,
- Admit that the world is inherently unfair and take responsibility for making it better.
- Deal fairly with everyone in your life. Don’t cheat, don’t lie, and don’t take advantage.
Religions are all over #2, but I think #1 is essential. When we understand that our own moral behavior is the only thing that imposes morality on the world, we truly understand why morality is important. If we forsake this responsibility, no supernatural force is going to step in and balance the scales for us.
Even so, there are no guarantees. Bad things happen to good people, because bad things can happen to anyone. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make anything better. We should believe in things because they’re true and for no other reason.
Everything else is wishful thinking.
