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The relationship between religion and morality
The relationship between religion and morality
The relationship between religion and morality
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Morality without God
This question begins by assuming morals were created entirely by God
and not just approved of by God. It also bypasses the possibility that
there is no such God and man created morals using the authority
intrinsic in the idea of a God in order to enforce them; thus raising
the possibility that morals are learned but also partly innate and
instinctual to humankind. The ideas raised target those who have no
religious persuasion, namely those who consider themselves to be
atheist or agnostic. The claim implicit in the question (in assuming
that God exists) is that all morality and sound ethical values stem
from religion, without which motivation towards virtuous behaviour
becomes ambiguous.
In assuming that the Ten Commandments were never written and a list of
moral rules never set out, it is easy to imagine a world where
barbarity and survival of the fittest becomes as natural for human
beings as it is for wild cats of the African Savannah. With these
rules to fall back on, humans have guidelines, discipline and
structure to a subject that is often problematic. Morality is an
ambiguous subject because, unlike natural laws that offer up a
specific and tangible consequence when broken, moral laws merely carry
the name ‘law’ as an indication to their ideal weight whereas in
reality these ‘laws’ can be broken without necessarily bad
consequences or any at all. Belief in God can solve the problem of
obedience to a moral law, as, when broken or deviated from the person
can expect to travel to Hell in the afterlife, rather than the
preferred destination of Heaven; the ultimate reward for...
... middle of paper ...
...se that
distinguishes morality from immorality and as seen in the case of
people never exposed to Christianity or any large civilisation with a
God, the same sentiments are still conveyed and held as beliefs. Loss
of morality through choice is a far more reasonable suggestion than a
complete lack of it if the idea of God has not come into existence. To
therefore suggest that society would have no form of morality if there
had been no God and no religion is as unsustainable an argument as a
society with no form of morality.
Bibliography
Peter Singer, Chapters 4 and 7, Practical Ethics (2nd edition),
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993
Bernard Williams, Chapters 7 and 8, Morality: An Introduction,
Cambridge University, 1993, 2004
Plato, Book 1, Chapter 3, Plato: The Republic (2nd edition), Penguin
Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.
existence of God because, to them, logic did not allow for or explain God’s existence. His
Friedrich Nietzsche’s “On the Genealogy of Morality” includes his theory on man’s development of “bad conscience.” Nietzsche believes that when transitioning from a free-roaming individual to a member of a community, man had to suppress his “will to power,” his natural “instinct of freedom”(59). The governing community threatened its members with punishment for violation of its laws, its “morality of customs,” thereby creating a uniform and predictable man (36). With fear of punishment curtailing his behavior, man was no longer allowed the freedom to indulge his every instinct. He turned his aggressive focus inward, became ashamed of his natural animal instincts, judged himself as inherently evil, and developed a bad conscience (46). Throughout the work, Nietzsche uses decidedly negative terms to describe “bad conscience,” calling it ugly (59), a sickness (60), or an illness (56); leading some to assume that he views “bad conscience” as a bad thing. However, Nietzsche hints at a different view when calling bad conscience a “sickness rather like pregnancy” (60). This analogy equates the pain and suffering of a pregnant woman to the suffering of man when his instincts are repressed. Therefore, just as the pain of pregnancy gives birth to something joyful, Nietzsche’s analogy implies that the negative state of bad conscience may also “give birth” to something positive. Nietzsche hopes for the birth of the “sovereign individual” – a man who is autonomous, not indebted to the morality of custom, and who has regained his free will. An examination of Nietzsche’s theory on the evolution of man’s bad conscience will reveal: even though bad conscience has caused man to turn against himself and has resulted in the stagnation of his will, Ni...
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If God did not exist, he would not be the greatest being imaginable. He is the greatest thing imaginable. Therefore, he does exist. From this argument, God’s existence is viewed. as necessary (Ayer. A. J. 1973).
because they wanted to not because they were afraid to. A good example of this
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Theology is an intentionally reflective endeavor. Every day we reflect upon the real, vital, and true experience of the benevolent God that exists. We as humans tend to be social beings, and being so we communicate our beliefs with one another in order to validate ourselves. Furthermore atheism has many forms, three of the most popular atheistic beliefs include: scientific atheism, humanistic atheism and the most popular one being protest atheism. Scientific atheism is the idea that science is the answer for everything and god is not existent. The humanistic approach states that society is self-sufficient; therefore God is not needed for survival. Therefore how could he exist? The position that I will argue in this paper is the pessimistic idea of protest atheism.
A wonderful description of the nature of God’s existence that includes the absolute possession of characteristics that have to be uniquely God was said, “First, God must exist necessarily, which means that God’s existence differs from ours by not being dependent on anything or anyone else, or such as to be taken from him or lost in any way. God has always existed, will always exist and could not do otherwise than to exist. Also, whatever attributes God possesses, he possesses necessarily” (Wood, J., 2010, p. 191).
James Rachels expresses his thoughts on what a satisfactory moral theory would be like. Rachels says a “satisfactory theory would be realistic about where human beings fit in the grand scheme of things” (Rachels, 173). Even though there is an existing theory on how humans came into this world there is not enough evidence to prove the theory to be correct. In addition to his belief of knowing how our existence came into play, he also has a view on the way we treat people and the consequences of our actions. My idea of a satisfactory moral theory would be treating people the way we wish to be treated, thinking of what results from our doings, as well as living according to the best plan.
Morals are having principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct (“Morals”). Having morals is something that people can have or lack. In religion, believing in a god with morals is a necessity. In Ancient Greece, however, Greek religion believed in gods and goddesses with immoral behaviors.
Ethics in Christianity According to Webster, ethics is "the science of moral duty." He further describes it as "the science of ideal human character. " The word in Greek means "dwelling" or "stall," as in a safe place to live (our word "morals" comes from the Latin word for ethics). The implication is that humans depend on right choices for security.
Morality and the Bible & nbsp; Both the legal and salvation philosophies of the Old and New Testaments reflect those of the cultures around them, due to much copying and borrowing of laws and ideas. Furthermore, all societies around the world have similar moral and legal codes -- which is certainly not an accident. & nbsp; Interestingly enough, the moral codes of the world's religions bear a striking resemblance to each other, with only minor variations. Religions as different as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism all have proscriptions against killing, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. This is not an accident, for reasons we shall explore below. & nbsp; Christians may then object that there is something unique about the Bible that makes it a superior moral code.
Also, what might be said to be the will of God may actually not be, as
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.