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Religion, Morality, and Ethics
All that we are is the result of what we have thought:
it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our
thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil
thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the
foot of the ox that draws the carriage. All that we are
is the result of what we have thought. It is founded
on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a
man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness
follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
--Buddhism: Dhammapada 1-4
These classes of living beings have been declared by the
Jinas: earth, water, fire, wind; grass, trees, and plants;
and the moving beings, both the egg-bearing and those
that bear live offspring, those generated from dirt and
those generated in fluids. Know and understand that they
all desire happiness. By hurting these beings, people do
harm to their own souls, and will repeatedly be born as
one of them.
--Jainism: Sutrakritanga 1.7.1-2
The philosopher Kao said, “Man’s nature is like the ke
willow, and righteousness is like a cup or a bowl. The
fashioning of benevolence and righteousness out of
man’s nature is like the making of cups and bowls from
the ke willow.” Mencius replied, “Can you, leaving
untouched the nature of the willow, make with it cups and
bowls? You must do violence and injury to the willow
before you can make cups and bowls with it. If you must
do violence and injury to the willow in order to make cups
and bowls with it, on your principles you must in the same
way do violence and injury to humanity in order to fashion
from it benevolence and righteousness! Your words,
alas!, would certainly lead all men on to reckon
benevolence and righteousness to calamities.”
--Confucianism: Mencius 6.1.1-2
“Well then,” said the Lord of the River, “what should I
do and what should I not do? How am I to know in
the end what to accept and what to reject, what to
abide by and what do discard?”
Jo of the North Sea said, “From the point of view of
the Way, what is noble or what is mean? These
terms merely express excesses of contrast. Do not
hobble your will, or you will be departing from the
Way. What is few, or what is many? These terms
merely express states of fluctuation. Do not strive to
unify your actions, or you will be [in conflict with] the
Way.”
--Taoism: Chuang-tzu, book 17
You must not carry false rumors; you shall not join hands with the
guilty to act as a malicious witness: You shall neither side with the
mighty to do wrong--you shall not give perverse testimony in a
dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty--nor shall you
show deference to a poor man in his dispute.
When you encounter your enemy’s ox or ass wandering, you must
take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying
under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must
nevertheless raise it with him.
You shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes.
Keep far from a false charge; do not bring death on those who are
innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoers. Do
not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the
pleas of those who are in the right.
You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the
stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.
--Judaism : Exodus 23:1-9
Jesus . . . taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are
the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute
you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets
who were before you.”
--Christianity: Matthew 5:1-12
They ask you about drinking and gambling. Say: “There
is great harm in both, although they have some benefits
for men; but their harm is far greater than their benefits.”
They ask you what they should give in alms. Say: “What
you can spare.” Thus God makes plain to you His
revelations so that you may reflect upon this world and the
hereafter. They question you concerning orphans. Say:
“To deal justly with them is best. If you mix their affairs
with yours, remember they are yours brothers. God
knows the just from the unjust. If God pleased, he could
afflict you. His is mighty and wise.”
--Islam: Holy Koran 2:219-20.
The Jain religion is justly famous for its doctrine of
ahimsa, or nonviolence. It is based upon the idea that all
living beings have “soul” and “desire happiness.” Can
you see how this belief implies the need to do no violence
to any living thing, even bugs and trees?
If you do not believe trees or mosquitoes have souls,
does that change the moral idea?
The Judaic commands seem to insist on justice and
good treatment even to one’s enemies. Do you think
this is realistic?
Can one be good to one’s enemies in a situation of
war? Do you think truly good, religious people would
refuse to go to war?
Mencius argued that becoming a good and moral person
could not be a matter of changing our own nature.
Indeed, Mencius is famous for arguing that human nature
is inherently good.
Do you think that is true?
All three of the references from the Abrahamic
religions talk about being concerned for the poor. Do
you think we all do have an obligation to save the
poor? Why? Why does God care?
The Buddhist excerpt suggests the famous
concept of karma, namely, that what we are now is
the result of actions and thoughts done in the past.
So in a sense, those who suffer now are feeling
the effects of their own evils, and the main reason
not to do evil now is so that a future life is not
harmed. Do you think these ideas explain our
motivations for moral actions? Do they, for
example, help you care for the poor more, or less?
Chuang Tzu, like other Taoists, taught the ideal of
nonaction. He suggested that in the larger reality of the
Tao, the Way, there is no right or wrong. Why then
should we bother with morality?
Do you think that, in the big picture of things, morality
does not really matter?
Is this view religious in any way?
The Amish farmer is directed by his religious
commitment to avoid modern technologies. The
Amish are also traditionally pacifists. They also tend
to stop education for their children at the eighth
grade. Ultimately, these are religious values for the
Amish.
Do you think he might be right about some and not
about others? How might he decide if he can follow
some moral ideals and not others?
If there is some nobility in this way of life in obedience
to God, how does it compare to the terrorist, who kills
innocent people, he believes, in obedience to God?
Religion, Ethics, & Morality
• Morality is living according to standards of conduct.
• Ethics is evaluation and interpretation of morality,
often aiding in the establishment or revision of moral
codes.
• Morality and ethics are not necessarily or
automatically religious. They only become religious
when they are understood as expressions of or
responses to that which is experienced or perceived
as ultimate or transcendent.
(Hall [et al] in Richter [et al], 257)
Religion, Ethics, Morality (cont.)
• In most ancient societies religion and morality were
“effectively coterminous.” (Smart)
• Sometimes ethics and religion can be in conflict (e.g.,
the “sacrifice” of Isaac/Ishmael)
• Symbiosis---theocracy (e.g., Taliban, HRE)
• Ethics and morality without religion.
• Religious morality can be seen as response to a
flawed world
Why be moral?
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personal merit, karma
rewards or punishments
love of God
practicality
other . . . ?
External and Internal Sources of Morality
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“written in stone”?
Christianity
Buddhism
Confucianism
Judaism
Islam
Sources of Morality
• Three sources:
– religion
– nature
– autonomous human nature
Sources of Morality
• Three sources
• Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform
with God’s commands
– Abrahamic faiths
– What happens when God’s commands seem
immoral?
Sources of Morality
• Three sources
• Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform
with God’s commands
• Natural Order
– Confucianism
– Taoism
Sources of Morality
• Three sources
• Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform
with God’s commands
• Natural Order
• Autonomous Human Reason:
– Buddhism
– Aristotle
Religion and Culture
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Religion against Culture
Religion of Culture
Religion Above Culture
Religion the Transformer of Culture
Religion and Violence
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Silence
Complicity
Opposition
End-time/religious use of violence
Augustine’s Just War Theory
(cf. dharma yuddha, Islamic theory, et al)
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declared by legitimate authority
right intention (promote peace)
last resort
proportionality
reasonable chance of success
moderation
Religious Morality and Rational
Morality
• Religious Morality vs. Rational Morality
• Religious Morality completed by Rational
Morality
• Religious Morality Separate from but
aesthetically related to Rational Morality
Religious ethics is then essentially a creative enterprise
striving for harmony between images and actions. It
begins with images of who we are and who we could be.
These images, symbols, and metaphors are given within
religious traditions. Systems of religious ethics create
the conditions within which there might be an aesthetic
fittingness between a person’s (or a people’s) sense of
identity--the self-image that is shaped through religious
symbols, myths, and rituals--and behavior that visibly
manifests that self (or corporate self) through action.
People try to act in ways that fit their self-image.
Religious ethics is a living drama. It provides a stage
upon which human beings create a dynamic sense of
self through the medium of action. (Richter et al, 276-77)