Is there Religious Herd Immunity?

Rape is bad, right? Well, it seems that it really depends. In this eye-opening video from Africa, we learn that the biggest downsides from committing rape might involve the woman screaming, or the rapist contracting an STD.

I highly recommend watching the video. Because we all-too-often fall into the mistaken assumption that what we think is obviously the same as what any other reasonable person would. Lots of liberal Israelis, including those who worked tirelessly for peace with Palestinians, discovered on October 7^th that the cultural gaps are not so easy to paper over.

The odd thing is that the religious in Israel are only a minority of the population. And yet, the ethics and morality of Judaism have largely (if imperfectly) percolated throughout society. It is a country where babies and the elderly are respected, where there is an innate belief in the value of every human life (one of the reasons Israel has not defeated the ideology that seeks to drive the Jews into the sea). There seems to be a kind of herd effect, driven by the religious principles of a passionate and committed minority.

America has the very same thing. Or at least we did. As we can see from the video on rape, it is not universally accepted that physical coercion or rape or murder are actually, you know, wrong. But in America we have generally concluded otherwise.

But we don’t oppose violence because of our deep moral fibers or superior ethical deduction. No. We oppose violence because we are a nation born from deeply Christian values. And the general culture adopts this Christian ethos, without even knowing it. Such a mindset is seemingly in the water. So much so, that atheists can say, with a straight face, that physically harming others is obviously wrong, and anyone with half a brain knows how a good person behaves.

Except in places that do not share this sensibility. In other countries and cultures, people who would call themselves “good” come to quite different conclusions! Palestinians certainly do, when they cheer for atrocities. Whatever is in our water is not in theirs.

Or at least, that is how things used to be. Now it all seems to be changing. For decades, liberals have been unwilling to criticize Islam (including practices like female genital mutilation) out of an instinctive sense of self-preservation. It has spread: now it is fashionable to simply deny the existence of any atrocity that would otherwise force you to confront the contradictions in your own moral worldview (see all those who deny Hamas atrocities).

And I think this is because the percentage of G-d-fearing people in America, people who really will stand up for what they believe is right, even in the face of opposition or ridicule or censure, is falling below the critical level needed to maintain a kind of moral herd immunity.

At least up until now, America has been coasting on its historical decency, even as religion is losing in the common culture, and government has turned firmly against religion.

But for how much longer? Anyone who sees what public schools are turning out has cause for concern. A significant minority of young people now think the Holocaust is Fake News.

How much longer until people openly will say that raping people is totally fine – as long as the rapist and rape victims are the right people?

[an @iWe and @EliyahuMasinter work]