Does morality comes from religion?

[cho_pilo]

Discusss.

 

[YoungCatholic86]

It has to for a number of reasons. 1. Because, we as human beings, are all religious. Even if some of us claim we are not religious (i.e. atheism), religion is derived from the word religio in latin which basically means “to bind oneself to a core set of beliefs.” Atheists have bound themselves to “science.” So, ironically enough, Atheism is a religion. 2. Even if someone is ignorant of the fact that atheism is a religion, morality still comes from religion because we need an infinite reference point of goodness by which to judge what is morally good and what is morally bad. That infinite reference point is God because, as Pope Benedict XVI said in his encyclical, God is Love and pure love is where goodness comes from.

 

[JRKH]

Moral: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.

**Religion: **a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Good Morality comes from God
Bad morality does not…

Religion - is generally seen as a system of beliefs and disciplines that reenforce and promote morality.

Religion - Godly, Loving religion - provides the structure by which more people can study and improve and conform their lives to Godly Morals. In this sense, Morality “comes from religion” as that is what religion (should) promotes.

So - Morality (Good and Loving beliefs) come from God and are promoted through the offices and the disciplines of religion…

Peace
James

 

[Hecares]

The natural law, a form of morality is “written on our hearts.” Certain rules of morality are universally accepted, which would indicate that they do not come from outside man. Study of religion - the Bible, the works of the early Church Fathers, and the teachings of our Church - fill out our knowledge of religion and morality as taught by that religion.

As Catholics we believe that the church maintains the truth through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is a further source offering deeper insight into morality.

So I guess the answer to your question is yes and no. There is a basic code of morality that exsists outside religion. However the fullness of morality comes through religion.

 

[royal_archer]

two aspects of this question based in the interpretation of “come from”. Where do morals originate and How does man gain knowledge of them.

Some morals can be discovered by reason such as those normally associated with an orderly running of society. (don’t kill, steal, etc) Others must come from faith and divine instruction. (go to church on Sunday)

Most societies share some comon moral beliefs that were developed independent of any divine intervention simply through reason (an refined through trial and error).

Since most individual people do not have the ability to reason their way to understanding morality they usually get taught it through religion long before they discover it trough reason.

 

[onenow1]

A forty year trek with God,that established all truth in the most read library of God’s word,{the bible} that passed on traditions, pointing to Jesus Christ,as He gave us His only Son all that is needed, a tradition set in stone,giving Peter the key, along with the apostles to uphold the traditions taught by Jesus through His word, and eventually the written word ratified in truth by His Roman Catholic Church holder of the key in the seat of Peter with the power of the Holy Spirit.

onenow1 Love God and your neighbor above all things

Jesus Christ

 

[edwest2]

From George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Source: avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Peace,
Ed

 

[JRKH]

From George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Source: avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Peace,
Ed

This should be e-mailed to the current US president…

Peace
James

 

[Calgar]

Are you talking about God?

I’d have to say yes.

There are nations in Eastern Europe that have been generations removed from Christianity and it scares me to think that America could be headed there.

 

[TheTrueCentrist]

I refer to religion as a package deal. In addition to various religious beliefs, you get a morality.

Is it the sole possible source of morality? No.

 

[cho_pilo]

From George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Source: avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Peace,
Ed

I think this is an interesting quote, on several levels, and exemplary of your own ideas, which I find thoughtful, though I tend to disagree with you.

This is taken from Washington’s farewell address. It is actually a passing remark embedded in a much longer dissertation in which he extols the virtues of America, Americans, and the American ideal. One might ask where these moral principles went during all the years slavery was tolerated.

There is something odd about this particular paragraph, though. Note this comment from Jefferson’s diary:

Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed Genl. Washington on his departure from the govmt, it was observed in their consultation that he had never on any occasion said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Xn religion and they thot they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. They did so. However he observed the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice. Rush observes he never did say a word on the subject in any of his public papers except in his valedictory letter to the Governors of the states when he resigned his commission in the army, wherein he speaks of the benign influence of the Christian religion. “I know that Gouverneur Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets & believed himself to be so, has often told me that Genl. Washington believed no more of that system than he himself did.”

As to the subject matter itself, that religion is beneficial in its impact on society, consider the ideas of Washington’s former friend and founding father Thomas Paine. From The Age of Reason:

If the belief of errors not morally bad did no mischief, it would make no part of the moral duty of man to oppose and remove them. There was no moral ill in believing the earth was flat like a trencher, any more than there was moral virtue in believing that it was round like a globe; neither was there any moral ill in believing that the Creator made no other world than this, any more than there was moral virtue in believing that he made millions, and that the infinity of space is filled with worlds. But when a system of religion is made to grow out of a supposed system of creation that is not true, and to unite itself therewith in a manner almost inseparable therefrom, the case assumes an entirely different ground. It is then that errors not morally bad become fraught with the same mischiefs as if they were. It is then that the truth, though otherwise indifferent itself, becomes an essential by becoming the criterion that either confirms by corresponding evidence, or denies by contradictory evidence, the reality of the religion itself. In this view of the case, it is the moral duty of man to obtain every possible evidence that the structure of the heavens, or any other part of creation affords, with respect to systems of religion. But this, the supporters or partisans of the Christian system, as if dreading the result, incessantly opposed, and not only rejected the sciences, but persecuted the professors. Had Newton or Descartes lived three or four hundred years ago, and pursued their studies as they did, it is most probable they would not have lived to finish them; and had Franklin drawn lightning from the clouds at the same time, it would have been at the hazard of expiring for it in the flames.