Essay:Religion and Morality

We have heard this argument countless amounts of time. If it wasn't for religion, there would be no moral code. The author and dramatist Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn had stated "If God is absent, all is permissible". These types of claims are highly illogical. Religion is not necessary for the existence of a moral code. In fact, religion does a tremendous job perverting morality.

Last year, I had a conversation with one of my friends at school. We somehow got into a debate over abortion and whether it should be legal. As a staunch liberal atheist, I was for abortion. As a staunch traditionalist Catholic (almost at a fanatic level), my friend was against abortion and claimed to be pro-life. As we exchanged our points of views, I brought up a situation where if abortion were illegal, women would have some guy in the street stick a hanger in their vagina in order to perform the removal of the fetus in the uterus. These procedures are painful and the mortality rates are quite high. After I explained this situation, my friend bluntly remarked,"She would have deserved to die".

As you can see, although my friend claimed to be pro-life, he wouldn't see a problem in a woman dying from a failed abortion. Many would wonder how could he formulate such a radical opinion? Is it not blatant that religion has a part in this? If my friend was not a hardcore traditionalist Catholic, would he still hold such a misguided view on abortion? I wouldn't think so.

Not too long ago, Dr. Jack Kevorkian (aka Dr. Death) made an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. Maher had questioned Kevorkian regarding the issues of euthanasia and his experience with it. Kevorkian had remarked that his patients had the desire to die in peace if they wished to and no governmental body should have infringed on those rights. Kevorkian called out religion and stating that instead to uploading medical ethnic, doctors are being forced to conform to religious ideals. Kevorkian further states that religion does harm to a person's moral code.

For those of you familiar with medieval Catholic saints, St. Thomas Aquinas was well-known for being an intelligent scholar who proclaimed the 5 pieces of evidence for God (although they have been disproven). Aquinas had argued that although rape was sinful, it was less unacceptable than masturbation or coitus interruptis. I cannot see how masturbation or coitus interruptus is sinful however, Aquinas argues that masturbation and coitus interruptus does not lead to potential procreation while rape does. According to Christian philosophy, sexual activity must lead to procreation (this is why homosexuality is considered a sin). That is the most askewed and preposterous view on sexuality I have ever heard and yet it was uttered by one of the most brilliant scholars of the middle ages. Is it not valid to say that religion lead to this perspective on sex?

Religion has been known to give approvals for homophobia, slavery,and misogyny. We humanist in the modern world are intelligent enough to see that these types of acts are morally wrong. There is no need for religion to justify morality. As human beings, we are born with an innate moral compass and as time progresses morality evolves into a more perfected form. Morality is a concept that is well-throughout by intellectuals. It is not a set of laws written in the bronze age.

-My name is the freethinker007 though I am known as Josh in the Real World. I have joined rationalwiki today (11/13/10) and this is my first article. If you find it mediocre I apologize. If you have enjoyed it, please contact me and we can exchange ideas.