The Connection Between Religion and Morality Essay Example
Examine the view that morality and religion are connected.
The view that morality and religion are connected could be considered as correct because many Christians believe that “man has within him a law written by a God”. If this is true then it must mean that God is the creator of everything which therefore renders him as the creator of goodness. The theologian H.P Owen said that it is impossible to think of a command without also thinking of a commander – for example, a dog would not sit on its own, without the command from an owner. This shows that there must be a God in order for us to have morals in the first place. There is also the argument that many atheists or legalists who set their morals by the law are also setting them by God, as many of the laws in place in our society today are based on those of the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments – for example, “thou shalt not kill” is the same as murder, which is a heavily punishable crime by law. As the Decalogue is the teachings and the word of God, this must mean that our morals are connected to religion. Dostoevsky said that “without God, everything is permitted”, the idea that if there was no God, we might easily be immoral and have no morals at all, because there would be no fear of judgement or being punished after death. This shows therefore, that religion provides the incentive to be moral. Kant argued that we as humans feel it necessary and obligatory to be moral and are equipped with a sense of justice that tells us whether what we do is right or wrong: all beliefs have an origin and come from somewhere, so this sense of morality must have originated from God. However, some may argue that religion and morality are not connected because of the Euthyphro Dilemma, which states that commanding an action does not necessarily make it good and that just because God says something is good, how do we know that it really is? If we take something that is willed by God as good
The view that morality and religion are connected could be considered as correct because many Christians believe that “man has within him a law written by a God”. If this is true then it must mean that God is the creator of everything which therefore renders him as the creator of goodness. The theologian H.P Owen said that it is impossible to think of a command without also thinking of a commander – for example, a dog would not sit on its own, without the command from an owner. This shows that there must be a God in order for us to have morals in the first place. There is also the argument that many atheists or legalists who set their morals by the law are also setting them by God, as many of the laws in place in our society today are based on those of the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments – for example, “thou shalt not kill” is the same as murder, which is a heavily punishable crime by law. As the Decalogue is the teachings and the word of God, this must mean that our morals are connected to religion. Dostoevsky said that “without God, everything is permitted”, the idea that if there was no God, we might easily be immoral and have no morals at all, because there would be no fear of judgement or being punished after death. This shows therefore, that religion provides the incentive to be moral. Kant argued that we as humans feel it necessary and obligatory to be moral and are equipped with a sense of justice that tells us whether what we do is right or wrong: all beliefs have an origin and come from somewhere, so this sense of morality must have originated from God. However, some may argue that religion and morality are not connected because of the Euthyphro Dilemma, which states that commanding an action does not necessarily make it good and that just because God says something is good, how do we know that it really is? If we take something that is willed by God as good