A thought-provoking interview with the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke on “God, Science, and Delusion”, held by Matt Cherry for the Free Inquiry magazine (vol 19, nor 2)…. some 17 years ago, in 1999.
“One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. So now people assume that religion and morality have a necessary connection. But the basis of morality is really very simple and doesn’t require religion at all. It’s this: ‘Don’t do unto anybody else what you wouldn’t like to be done to you.’ It seems to me that that’s all there is to it.
The other issue is, why can’t humans live up to this principle? Why is it that people can’t act as human beings should? I’m appalled by what we all see on the news every day-massacres, atrocities, injustices, outrages of all kinds. When I see what’s happening, I sometimes wonder if the human race deserves to survive.”
Click here to read full interview online