The purpose of this essay is to determine what motivates a theist (specifically the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions) to act morally, and to what extent they’re influenced by the divine implications the dogma implies. This is important because religion penetrates society as well as individual lives, regardless of some individual’s personal belief, everyone in society is affected by it. Additionally, upholding morality in a society is vital to its continuation, growth and development. Religion has the effect of imparting a universal moral code to the masses, impacting society on a large scale considering the prevalent nature of religion everywhere. Thus it is important to examine what drives this large portion of society (theists) morally.
…show more content…
The same religious scripture is often interpreted differently by different sects of a religion and even more acutely, on a personal level. However, we also experience universals inherent to humankind. The tentative rules which human nature consists of, allow us to make broader statements about what people do and believe in relation to their religions; despite the fact that the scripture (which serves as a basis for the religion) can be and is interpreted differently by …show more content…
Thiroux & Krasemann, authors of Ethics: Theory and Practice, assert that the Divine Command Theory requires that “in order to be moral, then, human beings must follow the commands and prohibitions of such a being or beings to the letter without concerning themselves with consequences, self interest, or anything else” (49). There are issues with a Divine Command Theory approach to morality in society, but examining this is not the purpose of this essay. The Divine Command Theory requires that one adhere to moral principles supposedly established from a supernatural power (God, for instance) without concern for consequences. However, I believe many people who subscribe to the idea that a supernatural power has endowed a set of moral boundaries, are also motivated by the positive and negative consequences they’re promised if they follow or dismiss the moral code as presented by the
The same religious scripture is often interpreted differently by different sects of a religion and even more acutely, on a personal level. However, we also experience universals inherent to humankind. The tentative rules which human nature consists of, allow us to make broader statements about what people do and believe in relation to their religions; despite the fact that the scripture (which serves as a basis for the religion) can be and is interpreted differently by …show more content…
Thiroux & Krasemann, authors of Ethics: Theory and Practice, assert that the Divine Command Theory requires that “in order to be moral, then, human beings must follow the commands and prohibitions of such a being or beings to the letter without concerning themselves with consequences, self interest, or anything else” (49). There are issues with a Divine Command Theory approach to morality in society, but examining this is not the purpose of this essay. The Divine Command Theory requires that one adhere to moral principles supposedly established from a supernatural power (God, for instance) without concern for consequences. However, I believe many people who subscribe to the idea that a supernatural power has endowed a set of moral boundaries, are also motivated by the positive and negative consequences they’re promised if they follow or dismiss the moral code as presented by the