The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Politics by Religion and Politics by Jonathan Haidt

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion is a groundbreaking 2012 book by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Drawing from different religious and political philosophies, Haidt explains how we make moral decisions, why people from different political leanings find it difficult to agree on even basic facts, and how morality shapes our actions. He asserts that all of us have a "righteous mind," a built-in mechanism for making ethical choices, and it is our responsibility to tap into it.

Haidt divides the book into three sections. In the first part, he explains how moral choices are, in fact, made. Here, he describes how morality is intuitive rather than conscious, correlating to the “elephant,” a representation of our emotional and gut instincts, while the conscious mind represents the rider, or executive control, that attempts to guide our intuitive reactions. He uses real-world stories to illustrate how a great deal of moral decision-making is intuitive, instinctual and emotionally driven.

In the second part, Haidt explains why people have different moral beliefs. He describes the politicization of moral issues, in which people identify with certain political parties and ideologies by associating their moral beliefs with those ideologies. He also discusses how religious systems can facilitate group solidarity and how beliefs, values and norms are sometimes framed in terms of good, evil, enemy and friends.

In the third part, Haidt dives deeper into the choatic nature of political debate. He explains how moral beliefs, defined by boundaries of in-group and out-group, significantly shape how people perceive and interact with each other. He then moves on to discuss how moral beliefs interact with political and religious beliefs and how that influences how people act.

Ultimately, Haidt makes the case that our moral choices are not as straightforward as we may think. Our emotions, our beliefs and our sense of identity all influence our decision-making, even if our conscious minds attempt to override them. Comfort and identity both play a great role in our lives and The Righteous Mind provides an eye-opening look into why we are so divided by politics and religion. In the end, it is up to us to understand how these forces shape our unconscious decision-making and to strive to make ethical choices.