Do Morals Stem From Religion?

[archangel]

I take it by your flaming that you have no clue what you're talking about, so you resort to insults. Very poor, archangel.

We're not discussing liberalism btw.



That's ridiculous and wrong. I'd say that most laws are probably based on economics.

Gee I just thought it would make you feel at home since Liberalism ie:"Air America" uses this as a base for discussion...........flamming that is! Can't take the heat get out of the kitchen!

 

[Shattered]

Shaq is tall, Shaq is black, therefore all tall people are black? No.

Moral and legal are not mutually exclusive concepts.

For example, speeding is illegal, but not necessarily immoral.
Slave owning in the 1800s was legal, but immoral.

So it's not immoral to purposely break a law, or rule? It's not immoral to purposely do wrong things? What exactly do you consider moral, and immoral?

 

[GotZoom]

I would say that they each drive each other.

Morality will create/change laws/rules. Look at what was acceptable on TV in the 50's compared to now - the same with the movie rating system. As to the laws statement, the speed limit used to be 55. Then a few years ago, it changed to 65, 70 and even 75 in some states. Why? Well, everyone drove that fast anyway; so why not change it.

Then you have laws that create/change morality. This might not necessarily apply to all people though. If the drinking age in a state that was 21, suddenly dropped to 18, would every 19 year old go out and drink? Maybe not everyone of them, but some would. Just as if a state all of the sudden dropped the law against recreational use of marijuana. Every single person in that state probably wouldn't start smoking; but some would. In each case, the people who started doing those things probably think that since it isn't illegal anymore, it must be OK to do.

 

[Max Power]

So it's not immoral to purposely break a law, or rule? It's not immoral to purposely do wrong things? What exactly do you consider moral, and immoral?

Have you ever stopped to consider, what if the law (or rule) is wrong?

Oskar Schindler broke many rules, smuggling Jews out of death camps, but none of that rule breaking was wrong in a moral sense.

 

[Max Power]

Then you have laws that create/change morality. This might not necessarily apply to all people though. If the drinking age in a state that was 21, suddenly dropped to 18, would every 19 year old go out and drink? Maybe not everyone of them, but some would. Just as if a state all of the sudden dropped the law against recreational use of marijuana. Every single person in that state probably wouldn't start smoking; but some would. In each case, the people who started doing those things probably think that since it isn't illegal anymore, it must be OK to do.

Okay, looking at your example, that doesn't mean you're legislating morality.

Some people are just law abiding. You might not be drinking or smoking because you don't want to go to jail.

Jail-avoiding is not the description of a righteous man.

 

[Gabriella84]

I find this to be an extremely immoral discussion.

 

[Shattered]

I find this to be an extremely immoral discussion.

I find the way you live your entire life to be extremely immoral.

 

[dilloduck]

I find this to be an extremely immoral discussion.

wanna elaborate on that---just a little clue as to why, maybe?

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Morals sometimes come from religions. Sometimes morals come from secular systems such as communism. Communism is an atheistic moral system which contends that the highest good is the equal distribution of wealth. It's very materialistic, which makes me wonder why lefties always feel so pure and non materialistic. they are totally materialistic. All they want from rich people is their money and they don't care how they get it.

 

[GotZoom]

Okay, looking at your example, that doesn't mean you're legislating morality.

Some people are just law abiding. You might not be drinking or smoking because you don't want to go to jail.

Jail-avoiding is not the description of a righteous man.

You missed my point. If they legalized marijuana, there wouldn't be a concern of jail time.

But that doesn't mean that people will automatically start smoking.

 

[Hobbit]

Ok, let me take another crack at this morality thing.

All actions have consequences. Actions which have negative consequences are, in most respects, "incorrect." For example, touching a stove has the negative consequence of burning your finger, making this action incorrect. Actions with negative consequences to self are considered stupid, unless they bring postivie consequences to others, such as sacrificing life, limb, etc. to save the lives of others. Actions which have negative consequences to others are immoral. Now, understand that there is a larger scope involved. Some people would say that suicide and drug use are not immoral, since they only harm yourself, but drug use brings negative consequences to all who depend on you for anything and suicide brings negative consequences to those who care about you. This is pretty much a universal definition of morality.

Now, you can debate many ideas of what is harmful and what is not all day long, but this is what it boils down to. You believe one of two ways.

1) Secular: Ancient man began to abide by and enforce these rules as an evolutionary societal step. When not everyone followed these laws, man took their idea of a divine being which controlled the sun, the weather, and other things they didn't comprehend, and they expanded that idea to include that this divine being would punish those who were not punished in life and reward those who adhered to the rules. In this way, laws led to religion which led back to laws.

2) Religious: A divine, all-knowing being told ancient man practices which were not good for them as a whole, forming religous law. People enforced these laws, but for those who weren't caught, they were assured that God would punish them in the afterlife if they didn't make some sort of amends. Eventually, society decided not to intertwine religion with law, so they seperated out which laws should be enforced by the state and which ones should be left to the church. Other societies broke away from religion completely and entirely dumped the laws that they didn't understand.

Either way, modern laws stem from religion. Where that religion stems from is the subject of debate.