Global InformationMorality and religion information
The intersections of morality and religion involve the relationship between religious views and morals. It is common for religions to have value frameworks regarding personal behavior meant to guide adherents in determining between right and wrong. These include the Triple Gems of Jainism, Islam's Sharia, Catholicism's Catechism, Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, and Zoroastrianism's "good thoughts, good words, and good deeds" concept, among others.[1] Various sources - such as holy books, oral and written traditions, and religious leaders - may outline and interpret these frameworks. Some religious systems share tenets with secular value-frameworks such as consequentialism, freethought, and utilitarianism.
Religion and morality are not synonymous. Though religion may depend on morality,[2] and even develop alongside morality,[3] morality does not necessarily depend upon religion, despite some making "an almost automatic assumption" to this effect.[4][page needed] According to The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, religion and morality "are to be defined differently and have no definitional connections with each other. Conceptually and in principle, morality and a religious value system are two distinct kinds of value systems or action guides."[5] In the views of some, morality and religion can overlap.[6] One definition sees morality as an active process which is, "at the very least, the effort to guide one's conduct by reason, that is, doing what there are the best reasons for doing, while giving equal consideration to the interests of all those affected by what one does."[7][page needed]
Value judgments can vary greatly between and within the teachings of various religions, past and present. People in some religious traditions, such as Christianity, may derive ideas of right and wrong from the rules and laws set forth in their respective authoritative guides and by their religious leaders.[8] Divine Command Theory equates morality to adherence to authoritative commands in a holy book.[4][need quotation to verify] Religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism generally draw from some of the broadest canons of religious works.[9] Researchers have shown interest in the relationship between religion and crime and other behavior that does not adhere to contemporary laws and social norms in various countries. Studies conducted in recent years[timeframe?] have explored these relationships, but the results have been mixed and sometimes contradictory.[10] The ability of religious faiths to provide useful and consistent value frameworks remains a matter of some debate. Some religious commentators have asserted that one cannot lead a moral life without an absolute lawgiver as a guide.[11] Other observers assert that moral behavior does not rely on religious tenets,[12] and/or that moral guidelines vary over time[13] and space[14] rather than remain absolute, and secular commentators (such as Christopher Hitchens) point to ethical challenges within various religions that conflict with contemporary social norms.[15]
- ^ Esptein, Greg M. (2010). Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York: HarperCollins. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-06-167011-4.
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Thomson, Garrett (2003). On Kant. Wadsworth philosophers series (2, revised ed.). Thomson/Wadsworth. p. 76. ISBN 9780534584078. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
For Kant, morality does not depend on religion; religion depends on morality. The basis and justification of religious conviction is our moral feeling or the moral law . In the end, morality requires us to have faith in God [...].
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Rossano, Matt (2007). "Supernaturalizing Social Life: Religion and the Evolution of Human Cooperation" (PDF). Human Nature. 18 (3): 272–94. doi:10.1007/s12110-007-9002-4. PMID 26181064. S2CID 1585551.
Cross-cultural analyses have shown that as societies become larger, more complex, and more threatened by external forces, their tendency to believe in moralizing gods also increases (Roes & Raymond 2003).
- ^ a b Rachels, James; Rachels, Stuart, eds. (2011). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-803824-2.
- ^ Childress, James F.; Macquarrie, John, eds. (1986). The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-0-664-20940-7.
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Nelson, Daniel Ray (1998). The Development of Moral Judgement, Religiousness, and General Knowledge: A Longitudinal Study of Bible College Students. University of Minnesota. p. 11. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
[...] the areas of religion and morality are related at least on philosophical grounds and deal with several overlapping issues.
- ^ Rachels, James; Rachels, Stuart (1986). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (7 ed.). McGraw-Hill Education (published 2011). ISBN 9780078038242. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
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Blackburn, Simon (2001). "The death of God". Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. New York: Oxford University Press (published 2003). p. 9. ISBN 9780191577925. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
[...] there is an authoritative code of instructions, a handbook of how to live. It is the word of Heaven, or the will of a Being greater than ourselves. The standards of living become known to us by revelation of this Being. Either we take ourselves to perceive the fountainhead directly, or more often we have the benefit of an intermediary - a priest, or a prophet, or a text, or a tradition sufficiently in touch with the divine will to be able to communicate it to us. Then we know what to do.
- ^ Bodhippriya Subhadra Siriwardena, 'The Buddhist perspective of lay morality', 1996.
- ^ Edgar Saint George, "Religion's Effects On Crime Rates"
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For example:
Taylor, Richard C.; López-Farjeat, Luis Xavier, eds. (20 August 2015). The Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy. Routledge Philosophy Companions. New York: Routledge (published 2015). ISBN 9781317484325. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
[...] the Ash'arite doctrine that the divine law established morality [...]
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For example:
McBrien, Richard Peter (1987). Caesar's Coin: Religion and Politics in America. Macmillan. p. 194. ISBN 9780029197202. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
Since morality does not absolutely depend upon religion for its authority, moral judgments can be made independently of any particular religious tradition. Indeed, a convincing moral case against homosexuality cannot rely exclusively, nor even primarily, on the Bible or religious doctrines.
- ^ Baker, Robert (12 November 2019). The Structure of Moral Revolutions: Studies of Changes in the Morality of Abortion, Death, and the Bioethics Revolution. Basic Bioethics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press (published 2019). ISBN 9780262043083. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
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Joyce, Richard (24 August 2007). The Evolution of Morality. Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press (published 2007). p. 10. ISBN 9780262263252. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
Nor need the hypothesis that morality is innate be undermined by observation of the great variation in moral codes across human communities, for the claim need not be interpreted as holding that morality with some particular content is fixed in human nature.
- ^ For example: Hitchens, Christopher (2007). God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Allen & Unwin (published 2008). ISBN 9781741766929. Retrieved 13 February 2021.