Outline the reasons why it may be claimed that morality and religion are linked. Examine and comment on the reasons given for suggesting they are not linked in this way.

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Outline the reasons why it may be claimed that morality and religion are linked. Examine and comment on the reasons given for suggesting they are not linked in this way.

  There are many reasons why one may believe that morality derives from religion. The golden rule of nearly every religion is to treat others as you would like to be treated, and this is evidence that morality is indeed at the heart of religion. The book of Leviticus teaches Jews and Christians to ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’, and the Hadith teaches Muslims that ‘not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself’. Similar quotations are also evident in the religious texts for Hinduism, Jainism and Confucianism. Many religious believers have devoted their lives solely to the purpose of serving others, with Mother Theresa being a perfect example. Setting up a charity and working among the poverty-stricken children of Calcutta, Mother Theresa was most definitely an amazing example of a moral figure, and one someone many religious people strive to follow. Such saintly examples illustrate the point that moral goodness flourishes most when based on following a religion.

 It can also be argued that religion provides some extra motivation for acting upon morals. Religions preach that such behaviour will be rewarded, and hence this would give reason for a religious person to be moral. Many Christian denominations teach that righteous deeds are rewarded with going to heaven after death, and oppositely evil actions are punished by hell. Other denominations, such as the Christadelphians, teach that Jesus Christ will return to the earth, and the reward for good behaviour will be a place in the heavenly kingdom that He is to set up on the earth. Muslims also believe in the Day of Judgement, where they will be judged and according sent to Paradise of to Jahannam (Hell). Such promises made to religious people provide an incentive for them to act with justice and morality at the forefront of their minds, and hence is proof that there is a definite link between religion and morality. Some would say, therefore, that religion gives a greater purpose to morality, as religious people act morally with the knowledge that they will receive a reward in return for their behaviour, whereas non-religious people do not.

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  Some have argued that morality is in fact based upon religious commands, and that it is virtually impossible to separate the two. The divine command theory of morality states that what makes moral actions moral is the fact that they agree with God’s will. Religion is still deeply entwined within a significantly atheist western society, and that despite this, the morals of western society are still in accordance with God’s will. The theory also supports the idea that if there was no God in the first place, our morals would be completely different to what they are today, ...

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