King Arthur's View On Religion

The main argument that Arthur states is that religion is not a prominent factor within morality, though it can be related. He also believes that morality is more influenced by society than religion. Arthur does not argue that religion and morality can never be connected; but claims the possibility of the two being independent from each other. The best point he makes is that non-religious people can still have a conception of morality.

Arthur’s first problem with religion being the main incentive to do good is with the idea that religion is necessary for moral motivation. The problem with this idea is that many people have different motives, apart from religious ones. Individuals might have more concern about being caught doing something they shouldn’t do, or developing a poor reputation.

Arthur’s next problem is the idea that religion is necessary for moral guidance in that

people can only know the moral thing to do through religious teaching and revelation. The problem with that, Arthur explains, is that there are too many things to know. He ponders what would be the appropriate thing to do through revelations being through God’s words and God’s acts and how would

we interpret those revelations. He also argues that without religion, there would be no morality. This is best seen in the Divine Command Theory which states that an act is morally good only because God says that act is morally good. This argument is then strengthened by the Copleston discussion. Copleston basically says that we need God in order to have an objective moral standard. What Arthur’s problem is then is that the theory doesn’t argue that morality must rest on religion, and that “commanded by God" and "morally required" are not the same thing.
Arthur later explains that the existence of morality does not depend on the existence of religion.

Although the Divine Command Theory assumes that the existence of God is necessary for the existence of morality, Arthur points out the possibility for the existence of good to be completely independent from the existence of God. He believes that the conscience, as a result of social forces, acts as a person’s moral motivation and moral guidance if not religion. Arthur also says that language is necessary for morality. Morality is social as it is an entity that "governs relationships between people.” It is used by individuals to justify their actions to others. Morality, through the consciousness of a person, serves as the voice and perspective of others within the individual—upholding Dewey’s

point.
As an agnostic person, I feel that I have more of an experience that aligns well with Arthur’s argument that religion is not always a factor in the moral decisions I choose to make. There are no times that I really think of the Christian standard of what denotes good or bad when making a lot of my decisions. More than likely, I am more concerned about what my family members, especially my mother, would think is a good or bad decision I make because I feel that she has a greater influence in my life than any other outside force.