Religion and Morality: A Philosophical Analysis

Running head: PHILOSOPHY
Essay on “Religion is irrelevant for morality”
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PHILOSOPHY
“Religion is irrelevant for morality”
Introduction
According to the perceptions of the people, morality comes from religion. Atheists
suffer from deep concerns regarding the presence of morality in their religious sentiments.
According to Christianity, the source of morality is religion. The contents of religion projects
their individual perceptions about sacred values (Wainwright, 2017). Etymological origin of
these aspects is the Bible, which is complex, as it consists of conflicting religious views. This
essay attempts to present the philosophical views on the relationship between religion and
morality.
Discussion
Dependence of morality on religion
Critics are divided on the reality behind the dependence of morality on religion.
According to Ivan Karamoazov, non-existence of God makes everything permissible. This
statement aligns with the assumptions related to moral nihilism. Ethical theories clarifies the
doubts of the readers regarding the development of autonomous thesis. According to these
theories, the source of morality is not with the God, the Creator (George, 2014). Along with
this, the theories also states that right and wrong actions depends on the will of God, the
Almighty. There are three ways in which independent actions can be exposed. This is in
alliance with the God’s will.
Philosophical views on religion and morality
Philosopher Kant negates any kind of difference between God and humanity. This is
for respecting and following the religious principles and guidelines. In his arguments, the
aspect of Categorical Imperative finds significant position. This concept involves the

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PHILOSOPHY
perceptions regarding the good practices as the good will of the humans. As per the Ethical
Code of Conduct, God and immorality are the two important components (Rosemont, 2015).
The humans are ought to follow the principles and assess the impact on their personality, if
they can. Philosopher Kant opines that the humans need to reach moral perfection.
Countering this, this is not possible in terms of the obstacles, which aggravates the
complexities towards fulfilling the identified goals and objectives. According to the
principles of Creation, provision of universal justice assures the humans of the universality
within the aspect of Justice.
Pondering on the views of Bertrand Russell, the thought process of the humans is
entrapped within the concept of free will. Russell is also of the view that humans are at
liberty to create, live and expose commitment to the religious ideals. Meaning of life is the
perceptions, which the people attach to it. According to Allison, (2018), adherence to the
religious principles adds morality into the meaningful life. However, James Rachel believes
that when people worship God, they expose their autonomy. This is because, their identities
merge with God, the Supreme Power, which enhances their personal entity. Here,
contentment is an important aspect regarding the infantile nature of religious morality.
Authority within this morality is assistance in terms of exposing the religious sentiments
according to the postulates and the principles.
Religious morality
Philosophers like Kant and Russell belief in impartiality, which is a vital component
of moral reasoning. Golden rule in this aspect states the significance of consistency within the
actions, where reciprocation is the main theme. This recriprocation involves the cause and
effect, enhancing the aspect of judgmental rationality within decision-making for religious
sentiments (Phillips, 2016). Within this, mention can be made of the beliefs, which leads to