Another reason why some people argue that religion and morality are linked is the example and presence of religious leaders, such as Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. These have been moved by their religion and it has inspired them to do good things morally.
Another theory that supports that morality is linked to religion is heteronomy. Some argue that morality being dependent on religious beliefs is inevitable because society can’t help but be influenced by religious views, as religion is so deep rooted within society for example, the English legal system. In addition ideas about ‘good’ have long been shaped by religion. We can’t suddenly decide to change. Furthermore, courage and conviction are needed to put morality into effect and only religion can provide the inspiration to do this.
A further important argument linking morality to religion is theonomy. This theory states that religion and morality depend upon a common source for their values, for example Roman Catholicism and Natural Moral Law. The positives of this argument show that morality and religion share a common source of ‘mystical awareness’. Moreover, many philosophers argue that good is known by intuition, ‘That which cannot be defined is paralleled in religious experience’.
Plato’s euthyro dilemma is an extremely important point in this argument that links morality to religion. ‘Is X good because God loves it?’ , from this point of view God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), omnipresent and omnibenevolent. In addition, therefore, God is the creator of morality and his morality is absolute.
However the other point of view from Plato’s euthyro dilemma is ‘Does God love X because X is good’ This point argues that morality should not be linked to religion, as it is saying that God is less powerful, more of a mentor as he points people in the right direction. God commands us to do things because they are true in themselves, independent of God, therefore, he does not create morality.
A further argument that explains why morality should not be linked to religion is the presence of atheists. Atheists’ would claim that they are still moral people, even without God and still make moral decisions based entirely on their own autonomy therefore, to them everything is not permissible without God. In addition, being entirely autonomous allows atheists to make moral decisions in new situations that religious rules cannot give answers to or conflict on in the 21st century. Furthermore, being autonomous allows people to use their free will in moral decision making as obedience to religious rules out of fear of what the consequences may be is selfish, and takes away freedom.
An additional argument that supports that religion should not be linked to morality is the evil and despicable actions of so called religious leaders that justify them on account of their religion, for example Osama Bin Laden, the twin towers and his Islam religion. How can such evil and disgraceful actions be morally the will of God?
Another argument that supports morality should not be linked to religion is that religion has, in the past, been known to obstruct and not tolerate scientific progress for example Roman Catholicism and IVF. How can a new scientific technique which helps people to have children who are otherwise not able to, be morally wrong?
Philosophers of the age of enlightenment have also shown that morality cannot be linked to religion. In the case of Darwin, he showed that non human animals show social instincts that if they were human, would certainly be praised as ethically moral. Furthermore, he traced these morals from non human animals to the more rational form of animals’ i.e. Human beings. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that our morals have evolved from non human animals and not from religion. This is advocated by Kant who said humans follow ‘Pure Moral Law’ which is given by our ability to reason. Furthermore, Sigmund Freud claimed that morality arises as a therapeutic attempt to resolve the conflict between our inherent aggression and the ‘cultural super ego’ (collective community authority).
In conclusion, it is fair to say that there are valid points on both sides of this argument. For morality being linked to religion, the feelings of guilt and responsibility being pointed towards God and the presence of religious authority (i.e. the bible) are strong arguments. This is because they both indicate that we base our moral decisions due to the feeling that we are responsible to someone higher than us, which is particularly strong in the John Henry Newman argument. For morality not being linked to religion, the atheism and Darwin argument are both particularly strong arguments. This is because they both indicate that moral is based more on natural intuition, as atheists’ make decisions without religious basis, and Darwin observed that there was some sort of morality in primitive animals, who of course have no rational knowledge of religion. Therefore I conclude that morality should not be linked to religion.