Moral Obligation

A very interesting question was raised the other day: Would our sense of moral obligation lessen and/or eventually diminish if religion became nonexistent? I know people always say there are three things you should avoid in conversation: sex, religion, and politics. Well, all that’s going out the window here. After all, that’s why I have a blog, to raise issues and state the things that are on my mind, right? Right.

That said, let’s dig into the issue of moral obligation and its relation to religion. I went to Catholic grammar and high schools. I have a Catholic mother and a Pentecostal father who is also a reverend. Having studied these two religions in depth, having friends of varied denominations who have taught me about their beliefs and the dogmas of their religions, as well as researching different schools of philosophy/thought, I have pondered this matter a good deal and have come to one conclusion: I do not believe moral obligation stems from religion. To be more precise, I think that structured religion(s) uses moral obligations in order to create religious laws; morality (as we define it) spawned religious beliefs. Religious institutions were founded on man’s ideas since man’s first thought.

To delve a little further, science has been disproving religion’s fanciful theories for centuries with more logical ones. But, with every new theory, moral obligation has not changed and will not if cared for, not necessarily by a religious institution, but by a family unit and healthy environment. One’s upbringing determines how moral a person is, and one does not have to be raised with religion as the only example of morality or source for instilling moral responsibility. Morality and religion are two separate entities that have been unnecessarily linked. And I don’t think I would be remiss in saying that people hesitate in accepting this way of thought because most structured religions have engrained their superstitions, along with a false sense of security, into their parishioners.

Although it seems that things have become more chaotic, I don't think morality has diminished over time, I think we are more exposed to its presence through all of the terrible images that have been glamorized in the media. Morality is part of being human; conversely, so is immorality. And as we change with the times, so do our standards and ways in which we live. Even religious leaders change their laws to reflect the times. Because moral and metaphysical laws have all been created by man, we shouldn’t be surprised when conflicts arise and amendments are made.

I think the Golden Rule is effective enough in teaching people to take moral responsibility seriously. It’s more logical, practical, and concrete than instilling the fear of God and Hell to make a person “good.” One of my many problems with religion is that moral lessons (and everything else) are instilled with fear and punishment, rather than logic. “You can’t do this, or else all hell and damnation will be upon you!” I’d rather have no reason at all than a bogus one to make me want to be a morally good person. We should all lead ethical lives because there’s no need in making life even harder to deal with. You don’t need religion to teach you not to kill, steal, respect your parents, etc. It should be common sense when applying the Golden Rule; it’s gold for a reason. I’d rather live my life in a way that, if I found out there really is hell and damnation to pay for my transgressions, I’d have nothing to worry about anyway.