The Role of Religions
in Ethics
►Ethics studies human behavior and ideal ways of being. As a philosophical
discipline, it is a systematic approach to understanding, analyzing, and
distinguishing matters of right and wrong, good and bad, and admirable and
deplorable as they relate to the well-being of and the relationships among
human beings.
►Religion is defined as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the
existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in
the universe and human life”.
► Religion can typically be seen as involving
various dimensions – myth (or sacred narrative),
doctrine, ritual, social and institutional expression,
experience and ethics.
► For many people, ethics may be the most
important part of religion because of the way it
teaches wisdom as to what is right and wrong.
Even secular beliefs have ethical dimension.
► Some submit that the difference between religion and ethics is about the disparity between
revelation and reason.
► In some measure, religion is based on the idea that God (or some deity) reveals insights
about life and its meaning. These divine insights are compiled in texts (the Bible, the
Torah, the Koran, etc.) and introduced as ‘revelation.’
► The role of philosophers is to accurately try to define and promote ethical concepts
based upon logic and reason.
► A religious person on the other hand, follows his or her code of conduct because he
believes that it is proper behavior and reaction to the varying challenges and
circumstances which arise during the course of life.
► From a strictly humanistic perspective, ethics, on the other hand, is based on the tenets of
reason. That is, anything that is not rationally provable cannot be deemed justifiable.
► This definition of ethics, however, does not necessarily exclude religion or a belief in
God, for it is also subject to ethical discernment.
► Indeed, many ethicists emphasize the relationship, not the difference between ethics and
religion. (De Guzman, 2018).
Religion and Fundamentalism
►Fundamentalism is defined as strict adherence to some belief or
ideology, especially in a religious context, or a form of Christianity
where the Bible is taken literally and obeyed in full.
►When a person follows every possible rule of the Bible, both literal
and implied, this is an example of fundamentalism.
► Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups, mainly religious groups, that is
characterized by strict literal adherence and interpretation of certain scriptures,
dogmas and ideologies.
► Fundamentalism is also marked by promotion of dichotomies and divisions among
those who adhere and those who do not, maintaining a sense and an environment of
in-group and out-group distinctions (Hunsberger 1992) and which advocates impose a
return to a previous ideal for those members who strayed.
►Fundamentalists put much emphasis on purity and homogeneous belief,
thus, diversity of opinion or interpretation is often discouraged, rejected
outright or severely sanctioned.
►This intolerance to contrary and opposing views make fundamentalism
a pejorative term that often made synonymous with extremism,
fanaticism and radicalism.
►The term religious fundamentalism is used to denote an action of a
group which is highly prejudiced by religious orthodoxy.
► Religious fundamentalists believe in the superiority of their religious
teachings.
Roots of
Fundamentalism
► Basher (2001) outlines some of the important events tracing the
growth of fundamentalism across some of the world’s major
religions.
1. Christianity and Fundamentalism
► Christian fundamentalism grew within the Protestant community of the United States in the
beginnings of the 20th century.
► The movement started among conservative Presbyterian theologians and soon spread among
Baptists and other denominations in the early 1900s.
► The movement’s aim is to defend their religion against the challenges of liberal
theology by strict belief and adherence to the five specific classical theological
beliefs of Christianity:
a.) biblical inspiration and the infallibility of scripture as a result of this;
b) virgin birth of Jesus;
c) belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin;
d) bodily resurrection of Jesus; and
e) historical reality of the miracles of Jesus.
2. Islam and Fundamentalism
► Islamic Fundamentalism has been defined as a movement of Muslims seeking to return to
the fundamentals of the Islamic religion and live similarly to how the Islamic prophet
Muhammad lived.
► Islamic fundamentalists favor a strict literal interpretation of the primary sources of
Islam-the Quran and Sunnah, eliminate what they perceive to be "corrupting" non-
Islamic influences from every part of their lives and see "Islamic fundamentalism" as a
pejorative term used by outsiders for Islamic revivalism and activism.
3. Buddhism and Fundamentalism
► Historic and contemporary examples of Buddhist fundamentalism occur in
each of the three main branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana and
Vajrayana.
► Theravada – ‘doctrine of elders’
► Mahayana – ‘greater vehicle’
► Vajrayana – ‘vehicle of the diamond’
3. Hinduism and Fundamentalism
► Scholars identify several politically active Hindu movements as part of the “Hindu
fundamentalist family.”
► One movement is Hindutva founded by Chandranath Basu and later the term was
popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savankar in 1923.
► It is championed by the Hindu nationalist volunteer organization Rashtriva
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bharativa Janata Party
(BJP) and other organisations, collectively called the Sangh Parivar.
►The Hindutva movement has been described by some as a variant of
“right-wing extremism” adhering to a disputed concept of
homogenised majority and cultural hegemony.
►A movement seeking to establish the hegemony (domination) of
Hindus and Hinduism within India – Hindu Nationalism.
4. Judaism and Fundamentalism
► Jewish fundamentalism may refer to militant religious Zionism or Haredi Judaism.
► Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism.
Adherents are also referred to as Dati Leeumi or National Religious.
► The community is also sometimes called Kippah Seruga, literally knitted skullcap, the
typical head-covering worn by the men.
► Their ideology revolves around three pillars: the Land of Israel, the People of Israel,
and the Torah of Israel.
Religions’ Role in
Ethics
► According to Steven Mintz (2012), a longstanding debate has been whether ethics
plays a role in religion.
► Most religions have an ethical component.
► Ethics encompasses right conduct and good life. It is significantly broader than
the common conception of analyzing right and wrong. It also deals with ideas
such as right, good and duty and these concepts have always been discussed since
ancient times until today (Smart, N. & Hecht, R. D., 1982).
If religion has a role in ethics (moral
decision-making), then what should be
that role?
►In America, for many individuals, their religion is a centrally defining
characteristic of who they are, such that they would be nearly incapable
of making ethical decisions independently of their religious beliefs.
► Further, some of our most basic moral sentiments are directly connected to religious
ideology.
► For example, most people agree that things like murder and adultery are always
wrong, regardless of circumstances.
► Most major world religions echo these sentiments, and it can be argued that the
ancient codes of conduct these traditions embody are actually the original source of
our social intuitions.
► At a minimum, we do seem to regard religion as a good source of basic moral
guidance, making it unwise to argue that there ought to be no connection between
religion and ethics.
► The link between religion and ethics seems obvious (Tittle and Wlech, 1983; Weaver
and Agle, 2002).
► Religions, through the values they embody, often build the basis for what is considered
right and wrong (Turner, 1997).
► Religion produces both formal and informal norms and provides people with a
freedom/constraint duality by prescribing behaviors within some acceptable boundaries
(Fararo and Skvoretz, 1986).
► Such norms, values, and beliefs are often codified into a religious code such as the
Bible or the Koran.
► In Christian religions, for instance, the Ten Commandments provide a broad basis of
codified ethical rules that believing Christians must follow in order to actualize what they
believe in (e.g., salvation). In turn, through daily exposure to norms, customs, laws,
scripts, and practices, religions impart societal members with values and produce
expectational bonds or ‘‘reciprocal expectations of predictability’’ (Field, 1979) that
eventually become taken for granted.
► The link between religion and morality is best illustrated by the Golden Rule.
► Virtually all of the world’s great religions contain in their religious texts some
version of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would wish them do unto
you”.
► In other words, we should treat others the way we would want to be treated.
This is the basic ethic that guides all religions. If we do so, happiness will
ensue.
Religion Expression of the Golden Rule (Citation)
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you. Do ye so to them; for
Christianity
this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:1)
Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no
Confucianism
resentment against you, either in the family or in the state. (Analects 12:2)
Buddhism Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. (dana-Varga 5,1)
This is the sum of duty, do naught onto others what you would not have not have
Hinduism
them do unto you. (Mahabharata 5, 1517)
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires
Islam
for himself. (Sunnah)
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the
Judaism
rest is commentary. (Talmud, Shabbat 3id)
Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own
Taoism
loss. (Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien)
Nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good
Zoroastrianism
for itself. (Dadisten-I-dinik, 94, 5)
► Some people, especially religious people, say that there can be no morality without
religion. They say that without God, ethics is impossible. Ethics or morality is the
attempt to arrive at a view of the nature of human values, of how we ought to live and
of what constitutes right conduct.
► In order to arrive at a view, it sets goals and assesses actions by the extent to which
they further these goals, e.g. if happiness is a goal then the action which produces most
happiness to all affected is the right one.
► Revelation too, through the written and oral law, directs people to an understanding of the nature of human values, of how
they ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct; such teachings and examples are scattered amongst various
verses and sources.
► Examples of such moral teachings are:
1. you shall do right and good (beyond the call of duty);
2. love your neighbor;
3. correct behavior between man and man;
4. discipline or training of character under the law;
5. piety beyond the law;
6. the need to be respectful, earn a living;
7. engage in learning and culture and so forth.
8. Nevertheless, ethics becomes global that is why Hans Kung (1996) would offer a “Global Ethic”, where everyone is
given the chance to integrate a common understanding of world religions.
