宗教与道德的关系之我见

宗教与道德的关系是一个由来已久、争论不休的话题。由于共同关注人类的行为 ,并且都指向社会共同体的稳定、和谐 ,所以两者在历史发展的大部分时段结合得非常紧密 ,但谈论道德而避开宗教并非不可能。本文从两者的基本关系入手 ,着重探讨宗教对道德意识可能具有的负面影响。

My View of the Relationship between Religion and Morality

The relation between religion and morality is a complex and noticeable question. Some ethicists believe that morality depends on religion, that means, there would not be real morality if there is no religion. But a careful analysis shows that it is not the case, since many an atheist has a strong moral sense and behaves morally, which nobody could deny. Morality is independent of religion, whether from the logic point of view or from the psychological point of view. Nevertheless, most of ethicists recognize that religion does promote the morality of disciples, which we can find by comparing the moral behaviors of a disciple before and after he believes. In spite of the promotion, few ethicists notice the counteraction that religion can impede the morality of disciples. The thesis will show that religion is susceptible to be used as the excuse for selfish behaviors due to its nature.