Morality and Religion

I have never set fire to an orphanage. I have no wish to. There are many who believe that we must heed the Bible and religion, claiming that it brings us morality and without it, we have none. It is true that up to this point in history morality and religion have been closely linked and are often used interchangeably. Whether we look at Judaism, Christianity, or ancient Greek philosophy, morality has always been a key component. Well, I have never set fire to an orphanage, and I do not follow the Bible. It seems there may be a little morality in me after all. If this is the case, then it is time we re-evaluate the relationship between morality and religion. It is time to treat these two ideas as the separate entities that they are.

There is a belief that we must have religion to have morals. However, many problems arise when we link morality so closely with religion. For starters, it has the unavoidable fate of being subjected to much hypocrisy. For example, the Bible tells us to not kill, (King James Bible, Exodus 20:13), so we must not do it. This rule is accepted by all major religions and the majority of atheists as well. However, the Bible endorses more controversial morals too. For example, there's the oft-cited passage, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (King James Bible, Leviticus 20:13) Here, the Bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong. This moral has been adopted as law in many religious households. They are less likely, however, to bring up some other Biblical morals, such as how it is a sin to wear clothing made of two types of materials (King James Bible, Leviticus 19:19), or that anyone working on the Sabbath must be put to death (King James Bible, Exodus 35:2). And then there's the Bible's moral view on rape. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 says, “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and...