Final draft essay

Writer Memo

I chose this topic due to the decisions we make to make the right choice, do we do it for our belief in religion, or simply because we know it is the right thing to do. I feel this is a topic that needs to be discussed because the relationship between religious people and no religious are very different. But it doesn't take religion to be morally right. 

 

Daniela Buenaventura

Fall 2015 ENG 241 DL01 Survey of American Literature I

Lecturer: Miles McCrimmon

Morality, Ethics, Faith and Religion

Introduction

            There are direct and definite links between morality, ethics, faith and religion. Throughout this paper, the links between the four elements will be examined at length. One commonality between all the elements listed above have something to do with right and wrong and human nature. This includes the rules that are set aside by the society and what the individual deems as right and wrong from a personal perspective. Religion has determined what it is to be moral for everyone that subscribes to a religion. IN order for a religion to exist, there is a code of conduct that individuals must subscribe to in order to belong. These faiths are the defining characteristics of this faith. This shows that even though not the elements above are linked to each other, there is a chain of relationships between each element.

Morality

In order to understand how morality, ethics, faith and religion intertwined, one must be able to distinguish between each one of them. First, morality is the differentiation in intentions, actions and in decision making in what is considered by society or a group of people to be good and what is considered to be unacceptable.  In a manner of speaking, morality is the disjunction between right and wrong. Morality can be based on various aspects including religion, philosophy, a culture or a combination of any number of the aforementioned foundations. Morality can also be personal. This means that it can be governing code of conduct following the rules that the individual believes should be universal.

Ethics

            This is a branch of philosophy that involves in dealing with the concepts of right and wrong. Dealing with these concepts in this case includes, defending, systemizing and recommendation of these right and wrong conducts. In relation to the above topic of morality, ethics involves answering questions of morality such as which is the best way to live one’s life and which particular actions are supposed to be employed in which situations. Ethics deals in differentiating between what is  right and wrong, what are virtues and what are vices, what is just and what is unfair. While there are many branches and nuances to ethics, in this case, virtue ethics will be addressed since it describes the existence of a moral agent as the determining factor for ethical behavior.

Faith

            The term faith has numerous definitions and applications and often these definitions depend on the context that is used. For the most part, faith almost always has a religious component to it. IN fact, one definition of faith is that it is belief in a particular religious belief.  As will be discussed later in the paper, there is a direct link between faith, morals, ethics and religion. The religious component has already been mentioned above. Ethics is another field that has direct links to faith since both of these fields claim to the aspect of human dignity.

Religion

            Religion is derived from the Latin word religo which by definition is good faith. Over time however, these term has varied in definitions all depending on the religion and even in some cases, geographical location. However, there are some core concepts that are universally agreed on concerning religion. One definition of religion that is universally agreed upon is that religion is a collection of organized beliefs, cultural aspects and universal opinions that try to explain and link humanity and their purpose of existence. Alost all religions have an aspect of faith or what they believe and have faith in, organized behaviors that can be defined as the code of conduct of that particular religion and some form of rules that members must adhere to in order to belong to that particular religion. For example, Christians have to believe in God and Jesus Christ in order to be deemed as Christians. Without any of these elements, it fails to be religion.

In order to aptly examine the relationships between morality, ethics, faith and religion, it is worth it to examine in depth the relationship between any two elements with the strongest relationships.

Relation between Faith and Religion

            Faith is trust or absolute belief in something that cannot be seen. In most cases, this is has some connotation of a supernatural entity such as God or Satan. Since aspects of deity are almost always linked to faith, there is certainly a relationship between faith and religion. The reason for this lies in the very basic definition of religion which is beliefs of a certain person or (usually) a group of people as to their existence.

            Both the beliefs that are essential components of a religion and faith itself are subjective and therefore objectively baseless. There is no evidence, physical or otherwise that the supernatural exist. This is one core commonality between faith and religion. Another commonalty between the two is the issues that they address about right and wrong in relation to human nature. Most religions that majority of believers subscribe to have a supernatural entity. This includes Christianity, Islam and Hinduism among others. Since this representation of a supernatural entity has no physical evidence to prove their existence, those that subscribe to these religions must have faith.

            Most of the religions have a common thematic appearance. Some elements of these commonalities include an all powerful supernatural being or beings that judge the rights and wrongs that man does. Another commonality is that lack of adherence to what the omnipotent supernatural being demand will result in some very negative repercussions for the offending individual. In this book, Jonathan Edwards (1741) compare how easy it is for God to destroy a sinner to how easy it is for a man to crush an insect or cut down or burn a string.

            It is important to understand that for most religions, the component of faith is what ties man to the faith, lack of this belief would result in dissemination of the faith. This means that without some aspect of faith, there would be no religion. As mentioned before this faith has to be absolute. Most of these religions don’t accept aspects of duality in their faith. As a repercussion, most religions detail punishments that may befall anyone who does not abide by the faith. For example, Jonathan (1741) further posits that anyone who is an enemy of God deserves to be cast in hell. This is an example of a repercussion that is popular in faiths like the Christianity and Islam.  The link between faith and religion is therefore clear. Religion cannot exist without the element of faith. This is because even religion is subjective and n most cases centered on the existence of an all powerful supernatural being that varies from one religion to another.

Relation between Morality and Ethics

Morality and ethics have definite relations to each other. In fact, this is so much the case that many people often use them interchangeably. However, this is not accurate as one depends on the other for validation. This is to say that ethics must have a strong moral base. Without the strong moral compass, definitions and therefore applications of ethics will be a matter of convenience. The reason for this is the fact that, ethics are not set in stone per se; there can be any number of variations in the definition of ethics. Incorporation of morals in ethics is what makes ethics agreeable and definitive in a society. This is because morals are more universally accepted as compared to ethics. This is to say that while a group of individuals might deem something as right, another group of individuals might deem the same thing as morally corrupt.

For example, the book The Narrative of Captivity by Mary Rowlandson (1682) tells of a story of when she and the rest of her family were attacked by Indians, who she refers to as infidels due to their actions. According to the author, the Indians attacked and killed most of her family and continued to do so with zeal and did not seemed disturbed with the cruel actions. While to other people, it may seem inhumane to massacre children, to this group of individuals, this appeared to be normal.

This is a perfect example of the individuality of ethics. Ethics can therefore be defined as a system of morals. On the other hand, morals can be defined as character or conduct that determines what good behavior is and what is not. It is therefore suffice to say that ethics without morals is null. People are likely to commits acts that are conflicting and blame it on these individual ethical stands. Anyone can come up with a set of rules to abide by and these can be his/her personal ethics. An example of this is in Resolutions (Edwards, 1723). These are resolutions that the author resolved to abide by so as to guide throughout his life. While personal ethics might be morally upright, this is not always the case.

Morality for the most part is based on religion. This is because most religions are centered on educating the subscribers on that are right or wrong. Since ethics is the acceptable code of conduct that people in a society or culture adhere to, there is a link between morals and ethics since most societies are accepting of what religion considered being right. Finally, there are some comparisons and contrasts between morals and ethics. Some of the most distinguishing include; ethics are more dependent on society’s definition while morals are dependent on personal beliefs. Another core difference is in flexibility.

Morality and Religion

These two elements also have a very clear relationship. The reason for this is because most religious tenets have frameworks in place that determine how an individual can determine what is right and what is wrong.  As stated above in the relationship between morals and ethics, morality is personal and emanates from within rather than from the society. For most people, the basis of the moral codes that they exhibit is their religion. While these two concepts are much linked, they are not synonymous. The reason for this is because of the fact that morality is no dependent on religion. This is to say that someone who is not subscribed to any religious affiliation is still capable of displaying moral characteristics.

It is important to realize that in principle, both morality and religion are distinct value systems that are sometimes intertwined but can operate independently. A perfect example of morality in effect independently from religion is in Patrick Henry’s Give me liberty or give me death (1775). In this excerpt, the author makes his demands, regardless of whether they are contrary to opinions of those around him. This speech does not have any religious connotations but since morality gives consideration to those that are affected by its implementation. This is not the case with religion. Some aspects of religion are only popular with subscribers to that particular faith while rubbing other people the wrong way.

 However at the very core of both morality and religion, morality for most people is very much dependent on religion. An example is in Christianity where what is right or wrong is clearly defined in the Bible and specifically in the Ten Commandments. Christians derive what they deem to be moral on these commandments. Other polytheistic religions also have some aspect of control over what is deemed moral. However, monotheistic religions have more definitive control on what is moral and what is not. It is sometimes therefore argued that since polytheistic religions derive their morality from a broader source than their monotheistic counterparts, those subscribing to religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism have a broader moral spectrum.

Ethics and Religion

            Most religions have a concept of worship of an omnipotent supernatural being and as such, religion can be defined as a system of faith and in most cases worship. Another definition of ethics, apart from the one that is described above is that it is an effort to find a view of the ideal human nature and what can be constituted by a large majority of people in any society to be right or indeed wrong. It is therefore suffice to say that any action that furthers the attempt to reach this view is the right one.

            It is often the case that while an ethical person and a religious person might have different motivations, they are all likely to do the right thing. While there are any number of schools of thought that think either ethics supersede religion or the other way round, the fact of the matter still remains that both ethics and religion seem to usher man to better himself by committing acts that are morally upright. For example, John Winthrop (1630) in his positing of what a model Christian should be like states that man should help any person in distress instead of waiting on God to perform miraculous acts. While the author states that this is how a Christian should act, it is seemingly an ethical thing to do that even a non Christian would find appealing as long as he intends to act ethically.

Conclusion

            From the relationship analyzed above, one can see that there is a definite link between morality, ethics, faith and religion. Morality and ethics are so intertwined that at times, they are used interchangeably. Ethics must have a moral basis otherwise they will be used conveniently to cover evil acts.  Faith and religion also have a strong link to each other. Without the aspect of faith in what the religion stands for, one cannot belong to that particular religion. Morality for most people is dependent on religion. Most moral acts are dependent on religious teachings of what is right and wrong. Finally, ethical behavior further religious causes most of the time and the other way round. The relation between the two is not always clear since schools of thought conflict as to which precedes the other.