Morality and Religion: Is the Moral religious and is the Religious, moral?

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Before the recent awakenings and eyeopeners, religion has been seen by many people as an automatic proof of a person’s morality. We wake up one day, see a clergyman and we automatically see a ‘walking Jesus’ or a ‘driving Mohammed’, we see fellowship sisters on their way to church, all covered up and what we see are ‘the women of Jerusalem’. We have all at some point thought that way, yes, or yes??

It cannot be disputed that religion indeed preaches morality but does that mean that morality can never be achieved without religion? Would we say that a person who does not identify with a religion is immoral, or that a religious person cannot but be moral?

Well, if I am to answer in the affirmative, it would mean that in all parts of the world where a religion or another is being practiced, there would not be crimes, wars, tensions, vices, disorder and everything bad – of course with the exception of natural disasters!

If religion indeed is the brainchild of morality, then Judges, Lawyers, the police and every executing authority; be damned!  Since there is nothing to judge, defend or enforce.

If we have ever thought of Morality and Religion in that manner, then we have gotten both concepts wrong from the onset. This article attempts a definitional clarification of the terms “Religion” and “morality”, the relationship between them, the points where they grow distinct and the actual problems of morality being dependent on religion.

What is Religion and Morality?

Religion connotes belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality, often including at least one deity, accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief. It involves any practice to which someone or some group is seriously devoted. Etymologically, the word religion, as proposed by Thomas Aquinas, an Italian Dominican Friar, priest, philosopher and theologian; is rooted in three Latin words; ‘religio’, ‘reeligere’ and ‘religare’,  referring to ‘reverence’, ‘choose over’  and ‘re-bind’ respectively. It is on the basis of these roots that St. Thomas Aquinas defines religion as a relation to God. With this, it could be concluded that religion consists of a system of beliefs and practices that admits a binding relation to a supernatural being or beings. It entails man’s relationship with a deity of divinity, with the human being as the inferior one in the relationship.

 On the other hand, Morality, which can be used interchangeably with ethics, connotes the standards that govern the conduct of a person. Morality is the recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong; respect for and obedience to the rules of right conduct; the mental disposition or characteristic of behaving in a manner intended to produce morally good results. Morality as a term, is derived from the Latin word ‘mos’ which means ‘custom’ or ‘habit’. This Latin term is also equivalent to the Greek word ‘ethos’  with the same meaning as well. The subject matter of morality is human conduct. It examines human conduct and in doing so, checks whether an action is right or wrong, good or bad, whether such action ought to be performed or not.

From the foregoing, it can be understood that both concepts, whether or not they have a relationship, at least have different conceptual meanings. While religion involves beliefs, attitudes, and practices that relate human beings to supernatural agencies and realities; morality involves a way of regulating the conduct of individuals.

With the above in mind, let’s delve into the differences between both concepts:

• A difference between religion and morality is that religion emphasizes man’s relationship with a supreme being while morality deals with man’s relationship with fellow human beings.
•  Morality is more concerned with value judgment rather than the worship of a supreme being like in the case of religion.
• Different religions have specific places of practice, employ the use of rituals, specific symbols, objects, ceremonies, festivals and so on, in the worship of their supreme being while morality does not.

However, unlike morality, religion is an organized system of belief in a supreme being as well as an articulated mode of relating with the supreme being both in worship and in promoting his values - values which include doing good and avoiding that which is evil, in other words, living a moral life. This brings us to the point of connection between morality and religion, or at least the origin of the assumption that people make concerning the idea that religion births morality or that a religious person is automatically moral

 Religions have well-structured value frameworks, dictating things that its adherents should do or not do, these values are mostly contained in their holy books. For instance, the Christian faith has written in its holy book- the bible, commandments that its adherents should follow. These commandments are meant to guide the socio-ethical behavior or Christians. Looking closely, these commandments emphasize a moral way of living which includes not doing bad to other people. As known before, the central concern of morality is good and conduct, and since religion preaches morality, some assume that religion brought about the concept in the first place.  It is important to note that before the advent of religion, morality had been the way people maintained social order in the society.

According to Marc D. Hauser (Harvard psychology professor), ‘morality is far more ancient than religion’. For him, religion had not always existed and did not emerge as a biological adaptation, it in fact evolved from the various attempts put in place to solve general problems of social interaction. Cultural anthropologists have long discovered the way that the ancient societies lived, one common thing among these various societies was that they all had basic norms of moral conduct which guided the way they live in the society and their relationships with each other.

Human morality is very old and it would be false to say that the emergence of religion brought about morality itself. We could say that religion does lay a strict emphasis on morality and tries to facilitate and stabilize it, but it is not the ultimate reason why moral conduct exists. If it is the case that morality exists only because religion does, then there would be grave consequences, they include:

1. Not all religious practices and doctrines can pass as being moral, and this is based on the fact that they are formulated by human beings who are liable to mistakes. For example, there was a religious practice in the olden days that involved burning people who were considered ‘infidels’ or ‘witches’, there had also been times when unethical religious treatments were meted out on females, especially widows and one that involved female circumcision. These practices where performed by the people involved in these religions and they counted it as the moral thing to do, until they were reviewed and termed as infringement on fundamental human rights, hence immoral.

2.  If it is the case that religion brings about morality, then it would mean that non-religious people could decide to be immoral if they wanted to.

3. There would be the constant struggle for superiority if only religion brings morality. This is because the world would need to adopt a single and universal moral way of living. With that, Christians, Muslims Buddhists, Hinduists and even African traditional worshippers, would all vote for their religion taking eminence. This would bring nothing but war.

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CONCLUSION

Morality stands as a never-ending, inherent and intrinsic aspect of human existence. Following from the above, we are made to know that both the concept of religion and morality are different, but we can agree that while religion depends on morality, morality is not dependent on religion, it is timeless…

Let me ask you, do you have to be a Christian before you render a helping hand to another person?

Do you think that taking another person’s property is morally permissible because you don’t identify with any religion?

Do you disagree with me that morality is autonomous of religion? Share your thoughts with me in the comment section.