Without Judeo-Christianity, it’s not important what you do-- what’s important is who you do it to. In other words, if you can get away with doing stuff-- like lying, or cheating, or stealing-- feel free to do it.
But Judeo-Christianity was the first to say, “Lying is wrong, period.” Not, “You can lie to this group of people, but not that group of people.” Or, “Lie if you can get away with it-- it’s only a bad thing if you get caught.”
Lying is wrong because we’re all part of the body of Christ, and when we harm someone else by doing them wrong, we also harm ourselves and our relationship with God. The Commandment tells us not to bear false witness against our neighbor-- which encompasses all forms of lying-- and Leviticus tells us not to steal, deal falsely, or lie.
But without Judeo-Christianity, and the understanding that we’re all brothers in Christ, and that we’re all children of God, and that we’re all equal in the sight of God (because Jesus died for each of us as individuals)-- where would you base your morality? You have the concept of the equality of man, which is a very Christian thing, because while we may be created equal, we certainly don’t act equally, and we don’t live equally, and we don’t think equally. There’s an immense distance between the Warren Buffets and Bill Gates of the world, and the outcastes of Bombay and people digging through garbage in Haiti. Without the concept of living your life on the twin foundations of “Love of God” and “Love of Neighbor”, why in the world would you have any reason to pay attention-- not to the people a thousand miles away-- but to the people you come across in your path? Do you treat your incompetent waitress with courtesy and kindness and patience, not because you don’t want to look like a jerk to the people around you, but because she’s connected to you? How about the frustrating people who get in your way? How about the people who want to take advantage of you? How about the coworkers who want to steal your credit? How about the boss who treats you unfairly compared to X?
Religion gives context for the rest of our actions to make sense, and to guide them according to a particular code. If you divorce yourself from the reason for acting in a certain way, and you act “morally” because society sez so, not because you understand the reason why our culture is grounded in a certain brand of “morality”… the only thing you’ve got holding you to that code is your self-consciousness of wanting to go through the motions to act in a socially acceptable way. And once you stop caring what other people think about you… that goes away pretty fast.
