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Religion and Morality Are Linked

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Submitted By charlieobrart
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(i) Examine the claim that religion and morality are linked (21)
If we agree with Ninian Smart, then an important dimension of all the world religions is the ethical dimension. But this is not necessarily the same as saying that religion and morality are inextricably linked. A slightly different way of framing the question is to ask whether you can have morality without religion, as Dostoyevsky suggested when his character Ivan asserts that ‘if God does not exist then everything is permitted’.
Broadly speaking there are 3 different approaches to the question that can be taken: 1) Morality depends on religion 2) Morality is independent of religion 3) Morality is opposed to religion

The first approach is to argue that behaving morally means behaving in accordance with God’s will, so that morality cannot be separated from religion. For religious people moral behaviour and commitment to the religion are closely related to beliefs about salvation in the afterlife. They also point out that without religion there would be no morality because all moral codes are derived from religion, many of our most firmly held moral convictions can be traced back to religious morality, such as the prohibition against murder, homosexuality and adultery.
One strength of divine command ethics is that they provide a set in stone moral law with clear guidelines for how you should and should not behave; which some people may get from the bible, or other holy texts. The rules can be applied to anyone, at all times and places. The belief that God is eternal and never changes means that his commands are as relevant today as when they were first recorded. Not only this, but divine command ethics have ‘magnetism’ which means it not only tells us what to do and why it is the right thing to do, but it also gives a compelling reason for us to do what is right. Additionally, they are

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