Morality and God

1376 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stengths and weaknesses of divine command theory

Morality and God The belief that morality requires God remains a widely held moral maxim. In particular, it serves as the basic assumption of the Christian fundamentalist's social theory. Fundamentalists claim that all of society's troubles - everything from AIDS to out-of-wedlock pregnancies - are the result of a breakdown in morality and that this breakdown is due to a decline in the belief of God. This paper will look at different examples of how a god could be a bad thing and show that humans can create rules and morals all on their own. It will also touch upon the fact that doing good for the wrong reasons can also be a bad thing for the person. The belief that morality requires God is not limited to theists, however. Many atheists subscribe to it as well. An existentialist once wrote, "If God is dead, everything is permitted." In other words, if there is no supreme being to lay down the moral law, each individual is free to do as he or she pleases. Without a divine lawgiver, there can be no universal moral law. The view that God creates the moral law is often called the "Divine Command Theory of Ethics." According to this view, what makes an action right is that God wills it to be done. That an atheist should find this theory suspect is obvious, for, if one doesn't believe in God or if one is unsure which God is the true God, being told that one must do as God commands will not help one solve any moral dilemmas. According to Divine Command Theory, nothing is right or wrong unless God makes it so. Whatever God says goes. So if God had decreed that adultery was permissible, then adultery would be permissible. Let's take this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion. If the Divine Command Theory were true, then the ... ... middle of paper ... ...hat God is the only possible source of such standards. Philosophers as diverse as Plato, Immanuel Kant, and John Rawls have demonstrated that it is possible to have a universal morality without God. Contrary to what the fundamentalists would have us believe, then, what our society really needs is not more religion but a richer notion of the nature of morality. Bibliography Louis P. Pojman, Ethical Theory (Belmont,CA: Wadsworth, 1998), 635-637. Pojman, 646 Robin Le Poidevin, "Are God and Ethics Inseparable or Incompatible", *http://hem.passagen.se/nicb/god_ethics.htm* (10 Oct. 1996). Poidevin, article Mark I. Vuletic, "Against Moral Argument", * http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/mark_vuletic/moral.html* ( 1997). Mark I. Vuletic, "The Night I Saw the Light", *http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/allen_wayback.html* ( 11/10/2000).

Show More
Related

  • Slave Morality Analysis

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Western society and culture, religion and morality have often intertwined and they have reflected their values onto each other. Today it is sometimes impossible to make a distinction between the two, since their influence has transcended generations. In modern Western culture, religion and society preach conformity. In order to be a “good” person, one must conform to the values imposed by the church1 and state.

    Read More

  • God Is The Ultimate Lawmaker Essay

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, in the Ten Commandments, God commands us not to murder, but before that command murder was neither right nor wrong. It was just murder. “Morality simply did not exist.” In turn, the first option implies that God did not invent the moral laws, but knew the ones already set in place. They then just commanded us to obey those laws, but, like Shafer-Landau stated, “then these reasons, and not God’s commands, [would be] what makes actions right or wrong.” I truthfully find the first option as the most reasonable, but I think that that opinion may be bias since I don 't believe that God

    Read More

  • Seperation of Government and Religion

    1875 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is a significant difference between government and religious morals even though both are ethical authorities. These two moral authorities conflict with one another while both are to help people make sou...

    Read More

  • Does Morality And Imorality On Religion?

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    Morality has a strong connection with religion. The connection is so strong that most panels on ethics contain Ministers of God. This scenario therefore creates a natural question, “Does morality depend solely on religion?” The first point to understand in this scenario is the fact that God and religion are not the same. For instance, Christianity and Christ are not the same. The existence of God is independent of us just as the planets of Jupiter and Saturn are independent of human existence. The independence of God from us makes him prone to human weaknesses. For instance, Christians proclaim that their God is god but it is obvious to state that the religion - Christianity in itself has not been good as expected. For instance, when one sees

    Read More

  • The Meaning Of Death In Hamlet

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    The atheist might also interject that moral codes and values are created by societies to prevent strife and discordance. This argument and question is logically incoherent, for atheists have no basis upon which value judgments can be made. The atheist believes that rape is no worse than stealing a candy bar, for they believe that actions aren 't beholden to any mode of intrinsic objectivity, but are rather different, not good or bad. The next point I would make is as follows, why would an atheist characterize modern society as being morally superior to an ancient Hebrew society? The atheist cannot answer this question, for they have no basis upon which value judgments can be made, which would therefore justify the existence of objective moral

    Read More

  • God according to Crimes and Misdemeanors

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...t or even necessary for life and one can live unharmed in this world without any morals—implying the absence of a god.

    Read More

  • Morality and Religion Debate

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an organized religion debate, Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes contended many issues on religion and morality. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, believed that "morality can be maintained without religion." He also stated that it must be maintained without religion because times have changed. He said that if religion is not separated from state it could have severe damage, such as the Crusades and the Holocaust. Dershowitz believes that there is a difference between morality and religion. When people are moral without religion, they are being virtuous on their own, not because they are afraid of God. He stated that religion should not consist of a Cost-Benefit Analysis. Alan Keyes, a former Republican presidential candidate, stated that religion sets the standard for what's moral. Keyes argued "power only ultimately respects another power," and Martin Luther King Jr. was not a preacher by accident. Dershowitz also stated that not everything in the Bible should be believed word-for-word, even George Washington said "indulge religion with caution." Keyes believed that if state and religion should be separated, then why does the Declaration of Independence contain so much about religion? Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes would have argued endlessly about religion's role in society if there were not a moderator to stop them.

    Read More

  • Religion as a Guiding Force in Morality

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second reason to act morally is because there is religion. Sometimes moral codes are obtained by theologians who clarify holy books, like the Bible in Christianity, the Torah in Judaism, and the Qur 'an in Islam. Their conclusions are often accepted as absolute by their believers. Those who believe in God view him as the supreme law giver; a God to whom we owe obedience and allegiance. In other words, they think that being a good person is one who obey god by following his commandments. Religion helps people to judge whether a certain act is good or bad, which can be considered as the definition of morality. Most religions promote the same values which are: fairness, loyalty, honesty, trust, etc.... Similarly, McGinn lists the same qualities

    Read More

  • Morality: A Pillar of Societal Norms and Behavior

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    In society today there are many religions and cultures that each in their own way preaches different values. Morality is a subject that is often studied and analyzed to evaluate how people act and why they act in that manner. Being moral refers to “what persons ought to do in order to conform to society’s norms of behavior” (Beauchamp, 1997, p.2). Without morality it would be very difficult to have expectations on how people would act within society. This would in turn impact day to day interactions with strangers as with no morals of how one should act to their neighbor, there would be no mutual trust. If someone questions the conventional customs and laws of their culture and religion, why should they be good? If someone does not want to conform to the norms of their religion, they will have little to no

    Read More

  • Role Of Religion In Morality

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Does religion play an important role in Morality? Is religion the reason behind truly knowing the difference between what is right or wrong? Everyone has their own opinion over this matter. Some people will argue that religion is highly essential while others believe it has nothing to do with the way people express their moral behaviors. Sam Harris claims religion does not play an important role in morality; however, he is incorrect religion is essential in truly understanding morality.

    Read More

  • Essay On Morality And Morality

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    Truth, virtue, morality and sin are subjects of much controversy and debate in Western culture and the Church—these topics become more amplified especially within the confines of our political system. As American society ventures further away from the Christian ideals and principles once implemented at the foundations of our nation, these concepts continue to blur and become less important to the collective mind of our nation. Some may argue that these principles should remain separate from government and the political arena, stating that Christian ideals such as these are “antiquated” or “out of touch” with the direction society is heading; however, one ought to argue that government should never be separate from these ideals and it was the

    Read More

  • Thomas Aquinas And The Natural Law Theory

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to argue for the idea that even without a God, there can be a basis for morality. The structure of my argument will proceed as follows. I will begin my paper with the background information of the idea that without a God, specifically the Christian God, there is no moral basis. After detailing this false belief, I will go on to explain why it is indeed untrue due to various reasons. I will bring forth the conflicting views of St. Thomas Aquinas and the natural law theory before countering the arguments brought up by them.

    Read More

  • The Morality of Atheism

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    The principal problem with a divinely-based moral system is most obvious with respect to religious fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalists typically claim that there is one universally true religion and only one path to salvation.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • The relationship between morality and religiosity

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    The relationship between religiosity and morality are contingent on one another. Researchers show that growing up in a religious home can indicate positive growth with good morals. There are always exceptions to that theory though. Plenty of so called “religious people” are far from possessing good morals. If one has good morals, it may not necessarily mean one is a religious person. Although, many people containing good morals practice some type of faith or worship a higher power. A person who is truly religious will carry good morals. However, one who carries good morals possibly does not always believe in a religion.

    Read More

  • Discussion of the View that Morality and Religion are Linked

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    Also, what might be said to be the will of God may actually not be, as

    Read More

More about Morality and God

Open Document