Religion and Morality Essay

In this paper I forget discuss the relationship between godliness and morality. I will first address the question asked by those with religion, how atomic number 18 agnostics moral? Then I will examine morality and its relativity to culture. Next I will explore whether those without a religion are actually more moral than those with a religion. And finally, I will discuss whatsoever possible objections to my claims. This literary argument is in no way saying that those that believe in God are unmoral but that those who go int believe in God, are just as capable of being moral.Being atheist means that you choose to believe that God, or a god, does not exist. You have no faith or religion, you befoolt go to church every Sunday morning, or pray every shadow before you go to bed. Therefore the belief is that youre condemned to spend the rest of eternity in hell. So just because a person doesnt believe in a God, does that make them a grown person? A common question of those with religion is, where do atheists get their moral compass from? Atheists arent taught by any type of ultimate superior that they cant lie, cheat, steal, rape, or murder. So how do they know not to do it?The underlying message I interpret from this is religion is what keeps everybody in the dry land moral. That the only thing stopping you from murdering some integrity is reading a Bible (Marcotti, 2011). Just because you dont have a bible does it mean that you want to go around blowing up buildings and terrorizing grocery stores. Its safe to assume that most deal want to do good in the world. There is the insouciant serial annihilateer every once in a while but, the bulk of the worlds population is promoting good that exists in all forms because everybody has a different idea of whats effective from wrong.Some tidy sum make incredible scientific disc everywhereies to better mankind, thats considered good. Others might go to countries and help those less fortunate, alike good. On e might reply that these are just acts of morality. And that they still dont define a moral person. But if you animadvert about it, nobodys born with a perfect moral compass. Nobody is born with morals. Not even those that are born into a religion. In our society, when were materialization and we tell a white lie, we watch out the consequences. Some are told by their parents, who are told by the Bible, that it is wrong.Others learn that when you deceive people, it can have many effects. Through experience and questioning, do children acquire their smack of practiced and wrong. Which accompanies them throughout the rest of their lives. In Louise M. Antonys Philosophers Without Gods, she says that, All that is lost, if at that place is no God, is a divine enforcer. In a world without God, there is no guarantee that the virtuous will ever be rewarded, nor that the fell will ever be punished. We must do what is right simply because it is right, (Antony, 2007, pg. 51). Lets face t at morality and religion from a ethnic standpoint.When used in a descriptive sense morality refers to codes of conduct that are actually put forward and accepted by some society, group, or individual, (Gert, 2012). If you think about it, there are over seven billion people spread out over seven continents in our world. The majority of those people have a religion and believe in a God. But, what about the people that arent even exposed to the idea of a God? Lets say a rural, very secluded tribe in the habitable regions of northeast Asia. Just because they dont have a religion, would that make them bad people?If they lead a simple conduct and didnt steal, lie, commit adultery, or murder, wherefore should they be branded as unmoral for something they have no withstand over. An excellent insight into Chinese culture and religion is portrayed in the book, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Even though this example is a fictional story, its based off of a real culture and the religiou s views of that culture in the late nineteenth century. The protagonist Wang Lung practices a religion with the Earth. When his crop is well and thriving he pays homage to the Earth God and when his crop is poor he resents the Earth God.At a point in the book, Wang Lung kills his newborn daughter because of her sex. During a time of famine, he steals gold coins from a wealthy family. And after he encounters money and prosperity, he spends his time in a tea house with a concubine instead of with his dying wife (Sparknotes Editors, 2012). But, in this story the primary(prenominal) character does feel guilt for the things that he did. Knowing that it wasnt right, and that it didnt feel right to kill his newborn child, Wang Lung still did it and the act was perfectly acceptable according to their culture.When he stole the gold from the wealthy, he knew morally that it was wrong but, his family needed the money therefore his motivation was to provide for them. And when he purchased a co ncubine, Wang Lung was complying with the cultural norm of wealthy Chinese men. Whereas in our culture, and its predominant religion, the idea of adultery and lust is considered unmoral. It is even debatable that those without a religion are more genuinely moral. For example, the Christian religion. The whole belief is that you dont sin and therefore are rewarded with eternal bliss. If you do sin then you will be eer damned.The motivation for all the good that they are guided to do is to have a better afterlife, egocentric isnt it? Well one who has no religion, has no belief in the afterlife. All the actions and choices that they make in this physical life are all they have. They live for today instead of living for tomorrow, metaphorically. When you do the right thing, like not lie, cheat, steal, then your life will reflect upon that. If you rape someone then our discriminative system will lock you up in a concrete cell for a a couple of(prenominal) decades and then you just w asted half of the only life you have.From this you could say that an Atheist has more to drowse off by not being moral. For this argument, well known atheists, Ricky Gervais said, Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But thats exactly what it is - a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. Im good. I just dont believe Ill be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. Its knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life, (Gervais, 2010). A possible objection brought upon by these claims would be simply that God do morality and its not something we acquire.And for those that have faith in God, in all honesty why should they believe any differently? Their faith is what allows them to believe without having any need for reason, and that is extremely commendable. Many people arent capable of providing that much trust in the existence of a supernatural being. In this case, there are two sides to the story and it really do es come down to which side you are on. Those that have a religion would say that their morality has come from the teachings of that religion. But, they wouldnt know any otherwise.Even if they came to religion later in life, the bible provides written, physical guidance. An atheist would have a clean palette, not influenced by any ideas or direction. So the question of their morality is perfectly understandable. Its like saying if I had a sweeten bar, how could somebody else conjure that candy bar and experience the same sensation of it. In this paper, I explored a few concepts that argue the relationship between religion and morality. First by arguing where morality comes from, I said that it is something that we acquire through society. Next I said that morality is related to the religions amidst a culture.Last, I put forward that those without a religion are actually more moral than those with a religion. I Finished by providing objections and a point of view for those with a re ligion. The examples from literature that were used supported the claims make in the paragraphs. With these arguments, I believe that the relationship between religion and morality was effectively exposed. That it is not needful for one to have a religion and be moral. References Antony, L. (2007). Philosophers Without Gods . Oxford University Press Gert, Bernard, The Definition of Morality, The Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophical system (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N.Zalta (ed. ), URL = . Gervais, Ricky (2010) Ricky Gervais Why Im an Atheist The Wall Street Journal Online Available at http//blogs. wsj. com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/ Marcotte, Amanda (2011) 10 Myths Many Religious People Hold About Atheists, Debunked AlterNet Online Available at http//www. alternet. org/story/152395/10_myths_many_religious_people_hold_about_atheists,_debunked SparkNotes Editors. (2003). SparkNote on The Good Earth. Retrieved October 25, 2012, fro m http//www. sparknotes. com/lit/goodearth/