Rachels And Vuletic Analysis

Not all people who are religious have sound morals, just as not all people who are atheistic are immoral. In his article, John Arthur discusses why religion does not depend on morality and morality does not depend on religion. Arthur seeks to alter the perspective of those who believe religion is necessary within a society to have a proper moral code. Many believe religion provides a purpose in life, a motivation to do what is right, and a set list of guidelines to follow in order to be a good person.

Therefore, the only reason one has to behave ‘morally’ is because god, the bible or Jesus says you should. Moreover, the consequences of behaving in contradiction to Christian values or behaving ‘immorally’ involve punishment by god whether it be in this life or the after-life. This philosophy sheds some light on why atheism is feared, despised and misunderstood as well as why atheists are persecuted in America. If there is no god to answer to or no consequences for ‘bad behavior’, why then, would anyone behave in a good moral fashion? What is to prevent deviant behavior, if there is no god? These questions are the main basis for the Christian argument which maintains that atheists are untrustworthy, immoral or amoral, social deviants and therefore lesser human beings. Some have gone as far to say that atheists are unpatriotic, un-American and do not even have the right to be acknowledged as citizens of the United States.

Questions about morality are at the very center of heated debates and discussions surrounding the topic of religion. This theme, the potential interlinking between religion and morality, is explored by Plato in his work Euthyphro. The foundational question that Plato asks is how is something determined to be good or moral: through independent reasoning or by divine prescription. I believe that the only rational position to take on the issue is to conclude that morality must be separate from religion. This position, however, spawns many questions about what role religion does have in life. Ultimately, I believe that having an independent morality standard does change the way religion is used, but religion is still an

“In saying that things are not good by virtue of any rule of goodness but solely by virtue of the will of God, it seems to me that we unknowingly destroy all of God 's love and all his glory. For why praise him for what he has done if he would be equally praiseworthy in doing the exact contrary?”(1)Therefore there must be some moral standards independent of God that would be right or wrong regardless of his being. This conclusion creates another problem, it could mean that God has no freewill as he can not then act outside of the presupposed good morals and therefore can not make his own decisions. If there are moral standards independent of God and his will then that would limit God 's sovereignty. It binds God to something that makes him not independent. Instead of the good being established by him he is established by what is good and in essence a new “god” is created. This is used as a common argument for atheism, For if morality can exist without God there is no need to answer for the inherent sense of morale that humanity has in some context no matter what culture they are raised in.

The belief that morality requires God remains a widely held moral maxim. In particular, it serves as the basic assumption of the Christian fundamentalist's social theory. Fundamentalists claim that all of society's troubles - everything from AIDS to out-of-wedlock pregnancies - are the result of a breakdown in morality and that this breakdown is due to a decline in the belief of God. This paper will look at different examples of how a god could be a bad thing and show that humans can create rules and morals all on their own. It will also touch upon the fact that doing good for the wrong reasons can also be a bad thing for the person.

According to this theory, there are no moral standards that exist without God's will, and without his commands, nothing would be right or wrong. God is omnipotent, and therefore, morality itself is derived from God's nature. Without God, there is no basis for our moral structure and under this, what is moral is so because God has decreed it as such.

Humans through-out life will have thoughts and experiences that may take their judgment away from what their chosen God guided them to do. For example, in the Christian religion suicide is frowned upon by God. However, many faithful Christians have experienced things in their life that troubled and shook their faith in God to fix their problems to the point of going against him and taking their own life. There is also people that will defend their God’s beliefs with all of their ability; even when they feel no one else is on their side. For example, same sex marriage was legalized all across America. However, according to the Christian religion that is a sin in the eyes of God and it is people that voice their beliefs and feel that they are

Everything god does should be judge in terms of the reason behind the action rather than the direct visible effect of the action. (756

God is not going to miraculously make distinctions between those who are right and those who are wrong, the Bible has been provided to read and to find his expectations (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Unfortunately, many people, and some in the Lord’s church, have stopped seeking God’s approval and stopped searching the scriptures to find what God expects of Christians. Even when some know that an action is against the word of God excuses come into play. “God wants me to be happy” is a sentence that can be heard often when someone wants to do something that is in violation of scripture. A proper understanding of God as the righteous judge will allow adherents to God’s Word to grasp what that entails. Believers can look to the Bible to find that we serve a God who is a judge without fault and is unwavering in delivering his expectations and

Morality and ethics have always been a large source of debate and contention between different factions of various interests, beliefs, and ideals due to its centrality and foundational role in society and civilization and incredible importance to everyday life and decision making. In many of these disputes religious belief, or a lack thereof, serves as an important driving force behind one or both sides of the argument. In the modern world, one of the bigger instances of this can be seen in the many debates between Atheistic and religious individuals about the implications of religious belief on morality. One of the most famous Atheists, Christopher Hitchens, asserts that religion is not only unnecessary for morality, but actually impedes

suggestion that what makes right actions right is that the gods love, or approve of them. First, there is the problem that since questions of right

In reading, “Why or why not?” Vampatella statement, “(1) declare another’s moral code to be in error, or (2) to “impose” his own moral code on another. Sin then, has no meaning, since what may be sin to you is not necessarily sin to me.” This is what causes the world of confusion because there is no “Reality of Truth” in their actions. God did not create us to be in confusion by choosing our way. “Everything is relative” reminds me of an "idiom" statement or a manner of speaking that justifies a person ways of thinking wrong is right and right is wrong. Janet, you mention, “If it’s against God’s Word, then it’s against God Word!” My husband and I state this every day because it is the “reality of truth.” God love us so much that He sent His

I realize that I am interpreting the scriptures just as many opponents of homosexuality do, but if I am going to be doctrinally unsound I desire to be on the side of loving too much and letting too many people in than on the side of shutting others out of the community of Christ.

Morality only exists if we believe in God; therefore if God doesn’t exist there is no morality. There have been so many evil acts committed in the name of God that it is difficult to maintain that a belief in God equates to morality. There are situations that happen every day where decisions are made based off of human rights that contradict the word of God. Morality comes from within, it is an understanding of right versus wrong and the ability to choose what is right. Knowing all this a belief in God is not a requirement for a person to be moral. (Mosser, 2011)

The opposing arguments towards the belief in God and it having anything to do with moral society usually state that the religiousness of our country doesn't have much to do with the actual religion part (Bender, Bruno, 27). The counter argument says that religion is being used more as sociability or a way of belonging, rather than the actual believing in a God and wanting to spread his holy word. Other facts they may use are that people are able to have a conscience and are able to make decisions without having a holy book to tell them the difference between right and wrong. They usually express the fact that all people have the ability to tell between right and wrong due to instincts.