Religion And Morality Essay Example

Thought Experiments

Question 2
Religion and morality have always played an important role in ethics and practical justification. The two do not carry one identity but are of two distinct concerns that are related to the capacity of the human begins to understand the world and order. As both these aspects command the attention of the human beings, it is only natural for the different religions to understand the relation between the truthful life and the sacred quest. According to the Muslim Theologian al-Ashari, the only sure basis for moral knowledge is the command of God who is subject to none. According to him, God sets the standard of right and wrong. Al-Ashari holds the view that as humans carry the tendency to move towards ugly or harmful actions, they should seek religion morality in God who has the power to reveal what to right and what to wrong. One cannot agree completely with Al-Ashari view as one cannot make any “wrong” a right under the garb of religious morality or in the name of God.

Question 3

The pacifist scholar Roland Bainton argues in Christian attitudes towards war and peace that wars fought for religion tend to become crusades, where the enemy is treated as demonic nature. This view enforces the acceptance of violence in attacking the guilty and in defense of the innocent. All sort of rationales are invented for mass killing, and religion is not always the only catalyst of total war. Still, religious violence tend to take on a ruthless character and strangely, the same religion that propagates compassion and mercy for others, promotes hatred and intolerance for other religions and in the defense of their belief and religion. Thus, a rationale gets formulated for the holy wars. The questions related to the moral justification behind a holy war led to even more troubling questions. One should remember that the situations of war are not easy to evaluate in terms of right and wrong. For one side, the enemy will be completely wrong while, for the enemy, another side will be wholly wrong. Clearly, devotion to God and patriotism have been misused in the holy wars.
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