Survival of the Fittest Belief System
When you understand the Moral Foundations Theory, it will begin to make sense why and how Trump won the presidency and why our shared atheist, humanist, and secularist way-of-life is being threatened. it will show you how it's possible that polarized groups can seem to live in parallel, but conflicting worlds. You will also see how unity is the only way that we can overcome the ignorance that has taken over our country.
Unfortunately, the Trump victory was not a fluke. Throughout his campaign, he connected with his supporters on an emotional level. Sure, the emotions were mostly fear and anger, but once he tapped into it, Trump pretty much had them under his control. Hillary on the other hand was more cerebral. She was very knowledgeable and experienced but most people did not value those traits as much--even though, for any other job, those are exactly the traits that you look for. It was definitely not a reasonable outcome. Yet whether we like it or not, human beings are not governed by reason. Instead, we are governed by our intuition--reason is primarily used to justify our decisions. As Jonathan Haidt, one of the creators of the Moral Foundations Theory, described in his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided By Politics And Religion, reason is to intuition like a rider on an elephant. The rider does its best to steer the elephant, but mostly, it goes along with where ever the elephant want to go.
Now I know that for many atheists, the idea that we are driven by our gut-feeling rather than our rational thinking is an insult since having rational thought is our most cherished ability. But you have to keep in mind that the elephant is a lot more than only a gut-feeling. It governs all of our internal automatic systems. When we have sudden urges and impulses, the feeling of butterflies in our stomach, addictions that we can't fight, or thoughts that we can't escape; that's our own automatic system operating (barely) under the radar. The rider-elephant analogy is perfect because it illustrates how much more powerful our gut-feeling is compared to rational thought. Trump is the elephant that appealed to the elephants of his supporters. He angered their elephants. He made them fearful. Then eventually, they stampeded to the polls and gave him that decisive win.
The Moral Foundations Theory has 6 foundations. Various versions and combinations of these foundations can be found in any moral or belief system around the world among tribes, religions, cultures, and even in individuals. They allow us to know what it means to care or to harm, to be fair or to cheat, to be free or oppressed, to be loyal or betrayed, to respect or to rebel against authority, and to consider certain things to be sacred or disgusting. These foundations are written into our genes. They're written into our own elephant. When someone appeals to as many of these foundations as possible, the more likely the elephant will follow.
This is how Trump appealed to his supporters. He triggered their Care/Harm foundation be making them think that Muslims and Mexicans are coming into our country to hurt us. He triggered the Fairness/Cheating foundation by making them think that the system is rigged against them. He triggered the Liberty/Oppression foundation by making them think that their religious rights were getting infringed on. He triggered the Loyalty/Betrayal foundation by accusing establishment politicians of prioritizing special interests over average Americans. He triggered the Authority/Subversion foundation by promising harsh punishment for those that wish to hurt our police force. And finally, he triggered their Sanctity/Degradation foundation by promising to restore America to an idealistic (but unrealistic) version of itself.
Trump now has the presidency, the Republicans have the House and the Senate, and Trump will likely nominate a conservative judge to the Supreme Court. Eventually, we will all feel the influence of the Republican party via government policy. Women's rights, LGBT rights, healthcare, and the separation of church and state will all be at risk. And of course, his supporters aren't going anywhere. I hypothesized years ago when ISIS and the radical Muslims were all over the news that eventually there will be a right-wing version of ISIS; radical Christians. Unfortunately, I think it's coming true.
Atheists, humanists, and secularists wonder how such irrational ideologies and religion can still exist in modern times despite having learned so much through scientific discovery and human history. Well the reason why religion and its ignorance still exists is because it has established moral or belief system generally agreed upon by millions of people. All Christians, regardless of denomination, are unified under one god and one prophet. Muslims are unified under one god and one prophet. Basically, religious people are unified-- unified in their ignorance, but still unified.
This is an example of group selection, another feature in the Moral Foundations Theory. When we think of Darwin's natural selection, we think only in regards to how individual animals are able to survive and outlast others by using their physiological advantages and by passing on their genes to the next of kin regardless of environmental considerations. Religious groups and their belief systems survive in a similar fashion. They have great numbers, established religious documents, money, and they indoctrinate children to pass on their belief system. Eventually, they indoctrinate people of other groups or kill them off. They also get into public office to influence government policy.
Americans who prefer to live life without the influence of religion are about to get a rude awakening. This is why I'm urging all atheists, humanists, and secularists to unite. There are people in the Middle East that live in fear of persecution and have been killed specifically for expressing atheist beliefs. Now I don't think that such a thing will ever happen here in the United States; but then again, I never thought that Trump would ever become president.
Neil deGrasse Tyson once said that, “The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”
But thing about people is that we can only continue to exist if we believe in science and if we believe in each other. If you agree, please join our mailing list.
