Summa Theologica Richard Dawkins Analysis

When considering morality from a religious standpoint, a conclusion is often drawn, particularly in monotheistic religions, that goodness is an absolute concept, dictated by a set of God-given rules. It is logical to assume that God, as an omniscient, transcendent and ultimately perfect being, would be the source of moral command. Often, divine moral command is delivered to believers through scripture; however, it is argued that the moral teachings arising from such scripture cannot be absolute because they are subject to cultural relativity. Thus, although divine command theory seems simple, absolute rules are difficult to apply, and many scholars attempt to expose the issues with religious morality.

Aquinas’ Summa Theologica argues that …show more content…
He highlights aspects of religious belief that create issues in society and uses these cases to show that religion as a whole cannot be the source of morality. He defines faith as “an indulgence of irrationality that is nourishing extremism, division and terror”; moreover, he likens it to a malignant virus infecting the human mind, just as Freud suggested the Christian belief upset the development of a sound mental state. Dawkins stated faith is dangerous because “it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness”; his main pieces of evidence for this were religiously motivated extremism and ‘hell houses’ run by Christian organisations. The Hell House Outreach programme featured in the 2006 documentary The Root of All Evil? produces shows in order to give the impression to children that “sin destroys”, including images of forced abortions, and gay marriages “presided over by Satan” showing that homosexuality is sin. Despite the typical image of religion as morally superior and intrinsically linked to goodness, Dawkins aims to prove through this documentary that religions, in particular fundamental Islam or Christianity, also exhibit extremism and