The Relationship Between Religion and Morality

In one of our EN 102 session, we watched the documentary “Middle sexes, Redefining He and She” which educates us about inter-sexed people. Filmmaker Antony Thomas explores the issue of gender and sex, presents facts and imagery of varying expressions of gender in various cultures, and introduces scientific studies that support gender roles are not as simple as male and female. This powerful film evokes strong emotions; it is troubling to witness the intolerance and aggression that the characters and their families have to deal with every day.

In the film, Noah’s parents and stepfather fear for Noah’s safety because he does not behave or dress like a typical 8 year-old boy; ironically, they live in a “God loving, church going tight knit community”. As Noah’s father states “We live in a community where there is a strong religious belief that Noah should not be this way.” Additionally, Noah’s mother feels isolated from her community and overwhelmed by her family because “The Bible teaches us specifically that God made a man and a woman, they then procreate.” She is well aware that there is more than a 50% chance that others would hurt or even murder her son because of his undefined gender role. Unfortunately, the fear Noah’s mother has for her son’s safety is a tragic reality for Gwen’s mother.

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Gwen, a teenage transsexual, was murdered by four teenage boys in El Dorado County, California. These teenage boys had punched and beaten Gwen with cast iron, strangled her with a rope, then dumped her in shallow grave and crushed her to death with rocks. Interestingly, El Dorado County is a picturesque town where its residents are predominantly white Christians. After the film was over, we had a class discussi...

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Singer, Peter and Hauser, Marc. “Godless Morality.” Utilitarian.net. Project Syndicated,

Jan. 2006.

In this column written by philosophers, Peter Singer and Marc Hauser express religious people are no more altruistic and virtuous than non-believers after they conduct their experiment. Singer and Hauser describe three scenarios which are presented on their web-based moral sense test and examine the reactions from the participants. Through their explanations and reasoning, the authors conclude that it is our nature, not God that is the source of our morality. This column explores the source of morality and the motivation to do good deeds; furthermore, it dispels the myth that atheists lack a moral compass. This article includes scientific studies that can be used as credible evidences to support my argument in my research assignment.