A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

The Relationship Between Religion and Morality

Key Terms

Dependence – the view that morality depends on religion

Independence – the view that morality exists independently of religion

Autonomy – the view that morality is independent of religion. Its principles are justified on the basis of reason or experience alone, without reference to religious concepts.

Heteronomy – the view that morality depends on the authority of religious beliefs, or is based on ideas that come from religion, rather than from reason or experience alone.

Theonomy – the view that morality and religion both depend on a common source for their principles and values (usually God). Morality does not depend on the authority of a religious group.

Divine Command TheoryThis is the view that what is morally good is whatever God commands. Anything God commands is morally good, and anything God forbids is morally wrong.

This view is illustrated by the story of Abraham who almost sacrifices his son Isaac just because God tells him to. (see Genesis 22).

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged

the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he

reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him

from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

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A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear

God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”“I feel like God wants me to run for president…I know it won’t be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.” George W Bush

“You’re doing a job which is loved by God and you will end your day in heaven” note found in the belongings of one of the 9/11 terrorists

Criticisms of Divine Command Theory

The Euthyphro Dilemma

This problem was raised by the Greek philosopher Plato.

He points out that if you believe DCT, then you must accept one of two options – known as the two “horns” of the dilemma:

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Horn 1:“good” means “whatever God commands”.So we should follow his commandments because he commanded them.

Horn 2:“good” exists independently of God. God commands these things because he knows that they are good. But it isn’t him who makes them good.

A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

This is a dilemma because the religious believer must accept one of the horns, but each one has problems. So they don’t really want to accept either of them.

If we accept horn one, then anything that God commands is good. So God could command anything (like Abraham sacrificing his son) and it would be the morally right thing to do. This is problematic because it makes morality seem arbitrary.

But if we accept horn two, then morality comes from another source, not from God himself. So God seems impotent.

Stretch Yourself

Can the religious believer resolve the Euthyphro dilemma? Explain how, or why not.

The Challenge of Atheism and Anti-theism

Atheist – believes that God doesn’t exist

Anti-theist – believes that God doesn’t exist and that people shouldn’t believe in God. Many anti-theists want to get rid of religion. A key example is Richard Dawkins:

The biggest challenge to DCT comes from atheists and anti-theists. They look at examples of God’s commands which they think are not moral, and hope to show that either God doesn’t exist, or if he does then he is not worthy of worship.

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A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

Dawkins’ first point: God is not good

“The very idea that we get a moral compass from religion is horrible. Not only should we not get our moral compass from religion, as a matter of fact we don’t. We shouldn’t, because if you actually look at the bible or the Koran, and get your moral compass from there, it’s horrible – stoning people to death, stoning people for breaking the Sabbath.”

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Dawkins’ second point: Following commandments doesn’t make you moral

Morality based on religion is just “sucking up”. It would be more moral to be good because it is good, not because God told you to, or you are scared of punishment.

“Morality in the absence of policing is more truly moral”

Like most atheists, Dawkins thinks that morality is all about making your own decisions. A moral person is someone who can look at a situation and work out for themselves what is the morally right thing to do, not someone who blindly follows rules.

Responses to Dawkins

Religious believers can respond to Dawkins’ objections. Most religious believers don’t recognise the God that Dawkins describes. This is because he chooses only a few examples of God’s commands (all from the Old Testament).

There are plenty of examples of God commanding people to do morally good things, especially in the New Testament (“love your neighbour”, “forgive people” etc). Also, for all the examples Dawkins gives of religious people

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A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

doing terrible things (war, torture etc.) in the name of religion, we can give counterexamples of people like Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa, and the many millions of regular religious people who give money, time and support to other people because they are motivated by their religious beliefs, expecting nothing in return.

The idea that religious believers all just blindly follow a set of ancient rules is also not representative of most religions. Religious morality has developed over time, and continues to develop as modern life, medicine and technology bring new moral decision all the time. Rational discussion and debate between religious people takes place continuously. Even people who subscribe the idea of Divine Command Theory have to make moral decisions for which there is no relevant commandment.

They also don’t follow God’s commands purely out of fear or thinking of their afterlife, as Dawkins claims. They do so out of love and respect for him, believing that he is good and knows what is best for us.

Moral Arguments for/ against God

Because of the perceived link between religion and morality, people often use morality as evidence of the existence of God.

For example:

• There are some moral laws (principles such as ‘murder is wrong’)

• Laws come into existence by a lawmaker (ie. Governments or monarchs)

• So, there must be a lawmaker to explain the existence of moral laws

• So, there must be a God

Stretch Yourself:

Are there really moral laws?

Could they exist without a God? Where would they come from? How come nearly all societies seem to have the same basic moral principles?

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A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

The philosopher Kant agreed that morality is evidence of God’s existence.

He said that moral principles “must be regarded as commands of the Supreme Being” because they could only come “from a morally perfect (holy and good) and at the same time all-powerful will”.

His argument goes like this:

• The universe is inherently good and just – otherwise morality would not exist.

• Our experience is that good people often suffer and evildoers go unpunished.

• So, there must be an afterlife where goodness is rewarded.

• If there is an afterlife, there must be a God.

However, there are many atheists who use examples of religious morality evidence that religion is wrong and God does not exist.

R.A.Sharpe wrote in his book The Moral Case Against Religious Belief:

Religious leaders are “often badly wrong about moral questions as a result of their religious commitment.”

He gives various examples of religious people who have tortured and killed other people in the name of their religious belief. In these cases, it seems that people’s religious beliefs make them less moral. If their religious beliefs point them away from morality, instead of towards it, then religious belief must be wrong.

(This is very similar to the examples used by Richard Dawkins.)

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A Level Religious StudiesEthics 4.2

He gives this example: Suppose one helps someone who obviously needs help: a passing stranger who has been injured. Compare this to one who stops to help, not because one feels compassion, or because it seems like the moral thing to do, but rather because s/he hopes for some reward, not from the stranger, but from God. This is a different motivation, less to do with morality and more to do with self-interest.

Stretch Yourself:

Is it more moral to help someone because you feel sorry for them, or because you want to please God? If people consistently do the right thing, does it matter what their motivation is? Is “wanting to please God” a selfish motivation?

‘Most religious people are conventionally devout. Religion does not play a huge part in their everyday lives and their moral life is not continuously under its gaze. I regard this as a thoroughly good thing.... My suspicion is that the more intense the religious devotion the more the morality is in danger.’ - Sharpe

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