8: Morality, Ethics, and Religion
- Page ID
- 299499
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Is cheating immoral, unethical? Both?
Is it ever acceptable to lie in order to protect someone from harm? Is selfless generosity really possible, or are we humans always in one way or another motivated by selfish concerns? Should loyalty to family, friends and one’s immediate community take precedence over one’s duty to obey the law?
Such questions, which belong to the rich and complex domain of moral and ethical reflection, are no doubt familiar sorts of questions, even if there may seem to be no clear way of answering them with more than a shrug of the shoulders and the assertion that “it all depends….” The terms morality and ethics are closely related and often used interchangeably as both are concerned with the exploration of the broad rules which define, regulate and constrain our social lives, as well as with the more abstract consideration of moral evaluation itself. However, we cannot confuse morality and ethics with law. All exist to influence behavior, but laws result in mandatory compliance whereas adhering to a moral or ethical code is voluntary. In addition, some laws, such as those allowing abortions, are clearly immoral. Thus, our discussion will not include civil laws.
We can, in general, define morality and ethics as the concern for what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. Although we are presently dealing with religion and with religious morality and ethics, we need to say, that of course one does not need to be religious in order to behave in a responsible way. However, religion does not have a monopoly on moral behavior. People who do not adhere to a particular religion or who do not believe in a Supreme Being or in the Divine are quite capable of leading responsible lives; as such, they are often referred to as being ethical, not moral. Their motivation to do so, may differ from those whose moral conduct is inspired by their particular religious beliefs, but their concern to be morally responsible people may in no way be less serious or well–intended.
We can therefore say that there is indeed something like secular ethics alongside religious ethics. However, here we are occupying ourselves with ethics as a dimension of religion. Religious ethics are the moral principles that guide the followers of the different religions and that set the standard for what is and is not acceptable behavior in accordance with their respective beliefs. Particular features of religious ethics may be the concern over the causes or origin of evil and the concern over the consequences of evil behavior.