Area 1Guiding Principles

for Morality

Section 2• Sources of religious moral guidance• Christian Moral Values• The Golden Rule

HOW RELIGIOUS PEOPLE MAKE

MORAL DECISIONS

Sources of Religious Moral Guidance

1. USE OF REASON

• When followers of a religion have to decide what is right and wrong they use their ability to think through and reason about it.

• They try to find out facts and information about the issue and then weigh up the possible options before making a decision.

Role of Reason as a source of moral guidance in religion

• may be used to interpret and understand scripture and tradition

• may be used to help reinterpret scripture and tradition in new contexts

• may be the main guide to help the believer to understand for her/himself the rationality of the guidance given in sacred writings

• human reason is one of God's gifts which helps believers to understand God's guidance and the value of acting in harmony with God's will

• human reason may be rejected as a source of moral guidance because it is flawed or corrupted.

2. TRADITION

• People who follow a religion follow the customs, beliefs and teaching of their faith which have been handed down through many generations.

• However, times change and people have to decide whether to stick closely to these traditions or to adapt to new ideas.

• This means that followers of the same religion may have different moral values according to whether they stick more to tradition or try to change to more modern ways of thinking.

• This is why it is possible for different people from the same religion to have different moral values about the same issue.

3. HOLY BOOKS/SCRIPTURES

• Followers of religions also use the teachings contained in their scriptures to help them decide what is right and wrong.

• These scriptures can have considerable authority and influence on the moral decisions of a religion’s followers.

use of reasonto interpret sacred writings

• Reason is used to work out the use of analogy, symbolism and metaphor e.g. understand the message of Jesus parables or the Buddha’s stories

• Reason is used to put scriptures into historical context, e.g. modern understanding of not coveting neighbour’s donkey means not being jealous of other people’s possessions.

4. INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS

• People who follow religions often look to the founders or great leaders of the past in that religion to guide them about moral decisions.

• They may also look to leaders today to help them make important moral decisions e.g. Roman Catholicism: Pope, Buddhism: Dalai Lama

Christian Moral Values

The 10 Commandments -• The 10 Commandments are found in the Bible's Old

Testament at Exodus, Chapter 20.• They were given directly by God to the people of

Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

1. 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' 2. 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any

likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

3. 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.‘

4. 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' 5. 'Honor your father and your mother.' 6. 'You shall not murder.' 7. 'You shall not commit adultery.' 8. 'You shall not steal.' 9. 'You shall not bear false witness against your

neighbor.‘10.'You shall not covet your neighbor's house;

you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Greatest Commandment

• Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength

• “Love your neighbour (i.e.anyone in need) as you love yourself.”

• Love lies at the heart of Jesus teachings

• Love of God and humanity cannot be separated and Christians try and live their lives according to this ideal

A UNIVERSAL LAW

APPLIED TO EVERYONE

Global Ethic

• Benevolence– Showing kindness to others

• Liberty– Freedom for all

• Truthfulness– Living in the ‘right’ way

• Justice– Fairness, tolerance, equality

• Universal Rule:

“we should act morally as we would expect to be treated”

• Found in various ancient, modern, humanist non-religious and religious sources

• Requires empathy with other people as part of moral decision making.

"Treat Others As You Would Like To Be Treated."

Christianity: Jesus

• Matthew 7:12

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums

up the Law and the Prophets.”

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour.” Talmud (Judaism)

“Since the self is dear, let him who desires his own advantage not harm another.” Buddhism

“Do not do to others which would anger you if others did it to you.” Socrates (Greek philosopher)

“Don’t do things to others you wouldn’t want to have done to you” Humanism

• Good - consistent, fair, can be applied anywhere, no revenge, absolute, demands love

• Bad - no rules, depends on reciprocation, submissive, religions not very good at applying it, moral absolute but there are times when it cannot apply, different standards of acceptable behaviour in different cultures.

MORAL VALUES IN BUDDHISM

• Buddhist ethics do not generally speak of right and wrong, good and bad, but of thoughts or actions being kushala (skilful) or akushala (unskilful).

• Skilful actions are based on compassion, generosity and wisdom while unskilful ones are based on hatred, selfishness and delusion.

• The main reason for this is that Buddhism recognises that any action may have different moral implications or consequences depending on the circumstances.

1. Not to destroy life (all life, not just human)

2. Not to take what is not given (not just by theft but also by things being taken from people who have not chosen to give them)

3. Not to take part in harmful sexual activity

4. Not to speak falsely (not just by not telling the truth but also by not deceiving yourself or other people by what you say)

5. Not to take substances that affect or cloud the mind (alcohol, drugs or anything else that might affect the way the mind works)

Key Buddhist moral guidelines FIVE PRECEPTS: