Does Believing in God Make You Virtuous?

News that the Texas authorities have decided to DNA test all the women the children rescued recently from the clutches of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, following the arrest of the sect leader, yet again raises issues of the dangers of organised religion in exploiting the credulous, the vulnerable, the weak and morally lazy for the benefit of those who hold sway over them.
The failure of secular liberalism to address such issues is an indictment of its moral poverty, but down on our little allotment in South Gloucestershire in the good old Dis-United Kingdom, an ensuing issue had occurred to Nosher and me that we considered just as important.
'What our society should teach children from the day they first attend school' Nosher declared 'is that claims of moral authority, belief and knowledge are not to be taken lightly, and should be treated with great caution.'
We were reclined in our old deck chairs in Nosher's shed, the weather having given way to scudding grey clouds and squally showers. Still, we'd got most of our seed potatoes into the ground during the morning, and now it was time to enjoy some hot soup and stimulating conversation.
'Unfortunately' I said 'religion appeals to a child-like desire to have everything our own way, and if inculcated into children at an early enough age is very difficult to dispel. Not that I'm anti-religious' I added as an afterthought.
Nosher raised an eyebrow.
'So if you're not anti-religious, what are you?'
'I have an open mind on the existence of God' I replied 'although the concept of supernatural deities does nothing at all for me personally. And I like to formulate my beliefs for myself, so being a member of a religion has no appeal at all. But I have no problem with people believing in God or being members of organised religions - if they are merely exercising their right to freedom of belief. What I object to is the religious indoctrination of children, which I consider to be a form of child abuse, and the use of organised religion to obtain powers and special privileges for religions, and their believers, over other non-religious people and groups in society.'
Nosher grunted seemingly in agreement. Then he said:
'That's all very well, but most organised religions claim to have a monopoly on wisdom, goodness and moral rectitude, and they promise pain and suffering to those who don't comply with their edicts, either in this world or the next, and that's a pretty powerful message to counter. Thus far in the history of secular liberalism, religions have in fact done pretty well, even they claim always to be under threat.'
'I think all that you have just said, Nosher, attests to the highly problematic nature of organised religion' I explained 'personal faith, as a state of mind, is a private issue, but organised religions are permanently engaged in a campaign to bolster the moral narcissism of their followers and this motivates them to believe that they deserve special privileges and if they don't get these privileges they feel victimised. It's all part of a psychological complex which readily lends itself to exclusivism and extremist attitudes.'
'I'm beginning to think' offered Nosher 'that religion has more to do with people feeling good about themselves and at the same time feeling insecure unless they can get as many people as possible to join them in their religion, or breed as many children as quickly as possible in order to obtain social influence and power through weight of numbers.'
For a while we gazed out through the dusty cobwebbed window onto our little agrarian world, the gusts of wind rippling the vegetation and battering against our little cloches which contained the vulnerable seedlings of this years' crops.
'It's all obscured through dogma, doctrine and ritual' I said 'so that believers feel comfortable in their little world of moral narcissism, and feel the cold chill of outside influences as a threat to their stability. And yet the entire edifice of organised religion is built upon the idea that the stronger your beliefs, and the more people there are who share them, the more secure God is in his kingdom. Logically speaking, it's errant nonsense, since if God exists, he (or she) exists independently of the belief of believers, or the numbers of them; and quite why an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God should require believers to worship him or her is totally beyond me. I think it has more to do with human ambition and frailty than anything else.'
Nosher gave me one of his 'you're not making much sense' looks.
'So you're not anti-religious?' he quipped, a smile playing on his lips.
'Not at all' I replied 'I'm against religion being used as a means of enslaving and exploiting people, as an excuse for ignorance, intolerance, hostility and violence, and, perhaps most significantly of all, as affording a technique whereby believers can deceive themselves that they are somehow better than everyone else simply because they believe and others do not. When religion possesses none of these characteristics then I'm all for it, however implausible I might find its cherished beliefs, because I believe that benign religions actually enhance the lives of their believers, and sometimes even the lives of those who do not share the same beliefs.'
Nosher sat for a while, gazing out of the window, then he turned to look at me.
'So do you believe that religion and faith have any necessary connection with moral goodness?' he asked.
'None whatsoever' I replied.
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