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All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him. --Buddhism: Dhammapada 1-4
These classes of living beings have been declared by the Jinas: earth, water, fire, wind; grass, trees, and plants; and the moving beings, both the egg-bearing and those that bear live offspring, those generated from dirt and those generated in fluids. Know and understand that they all desire happiness. By hurting these beings, people do harm to their own souls, and will repeatedly be born as one of them. --Jainism: Sutrakritanga 1.7.1-2
The philosopher Kao said, “Man’s nature is like the ke willow, and righteousness is like a cup or a bowl. The fashioning of benevolence and righteousness out of man’s nature is like the making of cups and bowls from the ke willow.” Mencius replied, “Can you, leaving untouched the nature of the willow, make with it cups and bowls? You must do violence and injury to the willow before you can make cups and bowls with it. If you must do violence and injury to the willow in order to make cups and bowls with it, on your principles you must in the same way do violence and injury to humanity in order to fashion from it benevolence and righteousness! Your words, alas!, would certainly lead all men on to reckon benevolence and righteousness to calamities.” --Confucianism: Mencius 6.1.1-2
“Well then,” said the Lord of the River, “what should I do and what should I not do? How am I to know in the end what to accept and what to reject, what to abide by and what do discard?” Jo of the North Sea said, “From the point of view of the Way, what is noble or what is mean? These terms merely express excesses of contrast. Do not hobble your will, or you will be departing from the Way. What is few, or what is many? These terms merely express states of fluctuation. Do not strive to unify your actions, or you will be [in conflict with] the Way.” --Taoism: Chuang-tzu, book 17
You must not carry false rumors; you shall not join hands with the guilty to act as a malicious witness: You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong--you shall not give perverse testimony in a dispute so as to pervert it in favor of the mighty--nor shall you show deference to a poor man in his dispute. When you encounter your enemy’s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him. You shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes. Keep far from a false charge; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoers. Do not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the pleas of those who are in the right. You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. --Judaism : Exodus 23:1-9
Jesus . . . taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” --Christianity: Matthew 5:1-12
They ask you about drinking and gambling. Say: “There is great harm in both, although they have some benefits for men; but their harm is far greater than their benefits.” They ask you what they should give in alms. Say: “What you can spare.” Thus God makes plain to you His revelations so that you may reflect upon this world and the hereafter. They question you concerning orphans. Say: “To deal justly with them is best. If you mix their affairs with yours, remember they are yours brothers. God knows the just from the unjust. If God pleased, he could afflict you. His is mighty and wise.” --Islam: Holy Koran 2:219-20.
The Jain religion is justly famous for its doctrine of ahimsa, or nonviolence. It is based upon the idea that all living beings have “soul” and “desire happiness.” Can you see how this belief implies the need to do no violence to any living thing, even bugs and trees? If you do not believe trees or mosquitoes have souls, does that change the moral idea?
The Judaic commands seem to insist on justice and good treatment even to one’s enemies. Do you think this is realistic? Can one be good to one’s enemies in a situation of war? Do you think truly good, religious people would refuse to go to war?
Mencius argued that becoming a good and moral person could not be a matter of changing our own nature. Indeed, Mencius is famous for arguing that human nature is inherently good. Do you think that is true?
All three of the references from the Abrahamic religions talk about being concerned for the poor. Do you think we all do have an obligation to save the poor? Why? Why does God care?
The Buddhist excerpt suggests the famous concept of karma, namely, that what we are now is the result of actions and thoughts done in the past. So in a sense, those who suffer now are feeling the effects of their own evils, and the main reason not to do evil now is so that a future life is not harmed. Do you think these ideas explain our motivations for moral actions? Do they, for example, help you care for the poor more, or less?
Chuang Tzu, like other Taoists, taught the ideal of nonaction. He suggested that in the larger reality of the Tao, the Way, there is no right or wrong. Why then should we bother with morality? Do you think that, in the big picture of things, morality does not really matter? Is this view religious in any way?
The Amish farmer is directed by his religious commitment to avoid modern technologies. The Amish are also traditionally pacifists. They also tend to stop education for their children at the eighth grade. Ultimately, these are religious values for the Amish. Do you think he might be right about some and not about others? How might he decide if he can follow some moral ideals and not others? If there is some nobility in this way of life in obedience to God, how does it compare to the terrorist, who kills innocent people, he believes, in obedience to God?
Religion, Ethics, & Morality • Morality is living according to standards of conduct. • Ethics is evaluation and interpretation of morality, often aiding in the establishment or revision of moral codes. • Morality and ethics are not necessarily or automatically religious. They only become religious when they are understood as expressions of or responses to that which is experienced or perceived as ultimate or transcendent. (Hall [et al] in Richter [et al], 257)
Religion, Ethics, Morality (cont.) • In most ancient societies religion and morality were “effectively coterminous.” (Smart) • Sometimes ethics and religion can be in conflict (e.g., the “sacrifice” of Isaac/Ishmael) • Symbiosis---theocracy (e.g., Taliban, HRE) • Ethics and morality without religion. • Religious morality can be seen as response to a flawed world
Why be moral? • personal merit, karma • rewards or punishments • love of God • practicality • other . . . ?
External and Internal Sources of Morality • “written in stone”? • Christianity • Buddhism • Confucianism • Judaism • Islam
Sources of Morality • Three sources: • religion • nature • autonomous human nature
Sources of Morality • Three sources • Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform with God’s commands • Abrahamic faiths • What happens when God’s commands seem immoral?
Sources of Morality • Three sources • Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform with God’s commands • Natural Order • Confucianism • Taoism
Sources of Morality • Three sources • Divine Command Theory: ethics that conform with God’s commands • Natural Order • Autonomous Human Reason: • Buddhism • Aristotle
Religion and Culture • Religion against Culture • Religion of Culture • Religion Above Culture • Religion the Transformer of Culture
Religion and Violence • Silence • Complicity • Opposition • End-time/religious use of violence
Augustine’s Just War Theory(cf. dharma yuddha, Islamic theory, et al) • declared by legitimate authority • right intention (promote peace) • last resort • proportionality • reasonable chance of success • moderation
Religious Morality and Rational Morality • Religious Morality vs. Rational Morality • Religious Morality completed by Rational Morality • Religious Morality Separate from but aesthetically related to Rational Morality
Religious ethics is then essentially a creative enterprise striving for harmony between images and actions. It begins with images of who we are and who we could be. These images, symbols, and metaphors are given within religious traditions. Systems of religious ethics create the conditions within which there might be an aesthetic fittingness between a person’s (or a people’s) sense of identity--the self-image that is shaped through religious symbols, myths, and rituals--and behavior that visibly manifests that self (or corporate self) through action. People try to act in ways that fit their self-image. Religious ethics is a living drama. It provides a stage upon which human beings create a dynamic sense of self through the medium of action. (Richter et al, 276-77)
