Religion and Morality

• what do the following mean:

  1. autonomy

  2. heteronomy

  3. theonomy


  1. making decisions based on your own reasoning and principles. minimal guidance, e.g. virtue ethics

  2. following prescriptive sets of rules which come from the state/religion, e.g. human law. don't use your own reasoning

  3. a form of heteronomy; following laws of God (ie scripture), e.g. divine command
• what are the scholars that argue religion and morality are dependent on one another (theonomous ethics)

  - Dostoyevesky

  - Kant

  - Aquinas

  - Divine Command (Martin Luther)

  - Abrahamic and Indian traditions

  - conscience and God; Joseph Butler, John Newman, Aquinas
• explain Dosotoyevesky's view

  'without God, anything is permitted'

  - religion provides people with a reason to be moral and offers a framework (otherwise society would decline into chaos), e.g. Eightfold path, afterlife being directly connected to moral behaviour (eschatological)

  - religion validates and gives authority to moral codes and teaches us what's good and bad

  - religion promotes well-being in the world, e.g. Christian Aid, MLK, street pastors, Elizabeth Fry, Ghandi, Dalai Lama
• explain Kant's view

  - the existence of morality points to the existence of God, as without God moral laws would be meaningless

  - aim in deontology = to use reason to discern moral law and achieve 'summum bonum'

  - God is a 'necessary postulate' as humans cannot achieve this in this lifetime, and so there must be an afterlife where perfection can be realised

  - therefore God must exist
• explain Aquinas' view

  - argument based on Plato's eternal forms

  - morality is dependent on God as all things derive from God who is perfect in goodness

  - humans reflect the supreme goodness to a lesser extent and aim to reach eudaimonia to come closer to God; the presence of a synderesis within us points to God
• what are common beliefs about morality in all world traditions

  - all have basic humanitarian codes and a Golden rule to seek peace and harmony

  - religion is liberating, e.g. Nicky Cruz
• what are the common beliefs about morality in the Abrahamic traditions

  - morality derives from God as he is the source of authority

  - religion provides inspiration to be moral, e.g. Jesus' example

  - rules in scripture should be obeyed as they are the will of God

  - following these rules can lead to reward in this life and the afterlife, but going against God's rules can lead to punishment (morality linked to eschatological ideas of afterlife)

  e.g. giving to charity, fasting, halal meat
• what are common beliefs about morality in Indian traditions

  - ethics are seen as part of the natural order

  - ethics are guidelines, not absolute rules

  - individuals are responsible for their own ethical behaviour (karma), they are not externally imposed

  - ethical behaviour is the key to gaining enlightenment and escaping from the cycle of Samsara

  e.g. meditation, Eightfold path
• what is divine command theory

  - humans are incapable of knowing what is right and wrong, whereas God knows the absolute right and wrong and should therefore be obeyed

  - what God commands is right and good and what God forbids is wrong, as God is the source of all goodness

  - God rewards and punishes, punishment is a motivation to obey God's will

  - God can see the full picture, and we have to trust he has our best interests at heart

  - we know these commands through scripture and church teaching
• what does Martin Luther add to divine command theory

  - what God commands should be obeyed

  - human reason is 'the devil's greatest wh0re'

  - humans don't have the tools to know what is good
• how can conscience be linked to God

  conscience is linked with moral responsibility and guilt and therefore indicates the existence of an objective morality and an objective moral law giver

  Romans 2.15 implies conscience is given by God
• what did Butler argue about conscience

  - conscience = intuition, and put in humans by God, so we're obliged to follow it and obey it

  - conscience = 'final moral decision maker'

  - conscience is an authoritative guide which helps a person consider others and not just act out of self-interest
• what did Newman argue about conscience

  conscience is the divine law and a message from God
• what did Aquinas argue about conscience

  - conscience is a tool which allows a person to reason and rationalize what's right and wrong

  - conscience is not a command from God

  - everything exists because of God

  - reason and rationality help us to reveal the eternal law

  - rational acts are in accordance with the will of God and therefore reflect natural law (real goods), whereas irrational acts (apparent goods) are just errors in judgement
• what are some general arguments that religion and morality are/should be independent of one another (autonomous ethics)


  - non-religious people are still moral, e.g. humanists, utilitarianism

  - morality based on fear is selfish and not true morality

  - diversity of the religious traditions mean there are many interpretations which create divisions and lead to conflict, e.g. Troubles, Crusades

  - morality predates religion

  - Marx: religion is a social construct to exploit the masses

  - problem of evil suggests there's no moral law giver

  - some religions cause unnecessary suffering, e.g. no contraception/divorce

  - many scriptures which contain rules that are relied on are outdated and culturally irrelevant
• define:

  1. humanism

  2. strong atheism

  3. weak atheism


  1. moral values founded on human nature and experience. choice and freedom contribute to happiness. look to science rather than religion to understand the world

  2. a conscious decision to reject God based on reason. a lifestyle choice

  3. the idea of God is irrelevant, or they do not feel the presence of God
• what are the criticisms of divine command theory (8)

  - obeying God out of fear of punishment makes morality selfish

  - James Rachels: any being who demands we abandon moral autonomy isn't worthy of worship, e.g. kill all Amalekites

  - relies on trusting that what God commands is good

  - every tradition has a different view of the commands; which is right?

  - biblical ethics were set in a different era and are no longer culturally relevant

  - how do we deal with situations where there isn't a command; leaves us without guidance

  - does anything God command become moral law, e.g. don't boil a kid in its mothers milk

  - Euthyphro dilemma
• explain the Euthyphro dilemma (criticism of DCT)

  Plato discusses Euthyphro and Socrates dialogue

  'is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?'

  - the former makes morality arbitrary, as anything God commanded would be good, e.g. ordering Abraham to kill his son

  - the latter assumes 'that which is good' exists independently of God, which limits his omnipotence and doesn't fit with the Abrahamic idea of God, who created everything 'ex nihilo' (including morality)
• what are criticisms of conscience as the voice of God (6)

  - morality is a product of society, so is learnt and not innate, and doesn't come from conscience

  - Freud: conscience is an expression of psychological guilt

  - conscience is not always good, e.g. terrorism

  - conscience may conflict

  - conscience is subjective and reflects personal preferences

  - different ideas and versions of God, so how can conscience be God
• which scholars argue religion and morality are opposed

  - Russell

  - Dawkins

  - Sharpe
• what are some examples of religion and morality being opposed

  - Westboro Baptist; using religious doctrine to be severely homophobic and hateful (heteronomy)

  - Biblical parenting

  - Quiverfull: encourages procreation and abstaining from contraception as large families are seen to be a blessing from God. detach from society and tend to homeschool, promoting traditional gender roles

  - terrorism: act in the name of God

  - pray the gay away: Christian organisations run conversion courses to try and cure being gay

  - contraception; Catholic church prohibited its use, but this is irresponsible with the prevalence of STD's
• explain Sharpe's view

  - religion distorts morality, e.g. Catholic prohibition of contraception

  - shouldn't put more faith in religious doctrine than human reactions to right and wrong, e.g. burning heretic

  - are some religious practices an expression of God's will? e.g. self harm (suffi's) and celibacy

  - religious leaders aren't authorities on morality as they often get it badly wrong
• explain Dawkin's view

  - religion leads to immorality and evil deeds, e.g. Quiverfull

  - religion cherry picks verses that suit them

  - terrorism in the name of religion makes it dangerous

  - morality comes from society as we see the benefit of being a community

  - biblical parenting is a form of abuse
• explain Russell's view

  - religion = 'the dragon that should be slayed'

  - religion itself is immoral and prevents people progressing morally and thinking for themselves

  - e.g. crusades, discrimination etc.
• what are some Bible passages that challenge the claim that what God commands is good (another criticism of DCT)

  - Abraham and Isaac: God asked Abraham to sacrifice his precious son

  - Job: God allowing Satan to punish Job to test his faith (killed his whole family etc.)

  - Jephthah: God asked him to kill his daughter as payment for God helping him win his battle
• what do Buddhists think about morality and religion

  - in Buddhism there is a direct connection between morality and religion in that the religious seeker should lead the ethical life and religion is a useful guide for the ethical life, however this applies to any religion

  - no God so morality is not dependent on a divine

  law giver but instead each person must forge their own path in coming to understand the Dharma

  - Theravada Buddhism for example is very focused on self-

  discipline as way to achieve religious goals.

  - Buddhist ethics such as the eightfold path and the five precepts are advices rather than rules (autonomous)

  - Rules only apply when a person becomes a monastic and these are mainly to do with conduct between monks and householders.

  - Buddhism teaches that compassion should drive our morality, e.g. the Bodhisattva path where out of compassion a person should seek to help others free themselves from suffering.

  - Buddhism is not free from scandal however