Ethics- Chapter 5- Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

How does Romantic Sentimentalism serve as the root for Ethical Subjectivism?

Feeling

"religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless concitions. It is the opium of the people"

Karl Marx

Who said..."Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless condition. It is the opium of the people"

Karl Marx

According to Rousseau, what does society force on us?

Masks, hypocrisy and deceit. To train us to fit into a society.

Twin towers-NYC

Muslim tadicals hijacked tow passenger planes an flew them into the twin towers of the world trade center in NYC, killing almost 3000. Justified their actions on the grounds that God commanded them to do it.

Civil rights leader MLK Jr...........................divine command theory

rejected

Carol Christ and James Cone argue that religion in America tends to promote

sexism and racism

If a woman sincerely believe that God commanded her to kill her children, a divine command theorist would most likely respond that

she did the right thing by killing her children

Divine Command Theory

something is morally right for an individual simply because God commands it. There are not independent criteria for judging the morality of an action. Something is holy or moral becase God loves it.

Emile Durkheim , french sociologist and philosopher in" The elementary Forms of the Religious Life"argued

that God stands in the same relationship to worshippers as society does to its individual members. Each society creates God in its own image

Carol Christ's essay

"Why Women Need a Goddess", argues that patriarchal religions centering on the worship of a male God create an atmosphere and worldview "that keep wome in a state of psychological dependence on men and male authority, while at the same time legitimation the political and social authority of fathers and sone in the institutions of society

Key claims of Divine command theory

-God is perfectly good and just -morality is dependent on and relative to God's will -God's commands to particular prople and groups override universal m oral principales when there is a conflict.

What are the problems with Ethical Subjectivism?

-tries risky things -implies doublethink: focus on feelings and society comes up with feelings, its not ok but if a child does its ok. -universal sentimentalism: come to agree on feelings but they are different for everybody. -not compatible with Ethical Subjectivism with universal standards.

2 Theories regarding the relationship between morality and religion

1 Dinive command theory 2 Civil religion

Psychologist Gordon Allport 2 types of religious people

1 Intrinsically 2 Extrinsically

Native Americans view of earth

1 is sacred 2 has intrinsic moral value 3 cannot be owned or sold

Critique of Divine Command Theory

1 morality is independent of God's commands 2 there are no criteria for determining whether God actually issued a particular command. 3 the theory provides no objective criteria for determining which claim to accept if two particular groups or individuals present confliction claims based on DC. 4 the theory is based on the assumption of the existence of a just, loving, and infllible personal God. 5 the existence of a perfecly good God who is the source of all morality seems inconsistent with the presence of so much suffering and evil in the world.

What Bible story is often used to as an example of Divine command theory?

Abraham and Isaac- Abe did not question God's command, because God, being omipotent and the source of all morality, can change the moral rules at any time simply by and act of will. Abe's righteousness stemmed from his unquestioning obedience to the will of God.

American civil religion expresses itself in what symbols

American flag National anthem war memorials national holidays (holy days) US Constitution Pledge of Allegiance money oaths for public office

Which document has been used to support the belief in American civil religion

Declaration of Independence

When is civil religion at risk for abdication to divine command theory?

During times of crisis, when people are unsure of how to react and a powerful n ational leader claims to have knowledge of God's divine plan for the world. However, since divine commads do not need justification, there is no way fo determining whether the commands actually come from God.

What is Rousseau's book

Emile: 90% dedicated to boys 10% to girls

What is a basic tenet of American Civil Religion?

God is actively involved in history and has a special interest in USA

According to dct, if there is a conflict between what is considered to be a universal moral principle, such as "Thou shalt not kill" and God's command to a particular person or group

Gods command overrides the universal moral principle

" God is actively interested and involved in history, with a special concern for America"

Robert Bellah

Who said... "[God] is actively interested and involved in history, wit a special concern for America"

Robert Bellah

Who wrote "God is actively interested and involved in history, with a special concern for America"

Sociologist Robert Bellah

Who said..."Do the gods love holiness because it is holy, or is it holy because the gods love it?"

Socrates

"do the gods love holiness because it is holy, or is it holy because the gods love it?"

Socrates (Plato)

Who is Black Elk

a Sioux holy man and philosopher

Robert Bellah in "Civil Religion in America" maintains

a new form of religion has imerged which he calles American civil religion.

Civil Religion includes

an institutionalized set of beliefs, symbols, and rituals that provide a religious dimension to a nations collective life. come from God and represent a "higher standard" by which the experiences of a nation are interpreted and judged.

Religion

an institutionalized system of beliefs and values shared by a group and grounded in faith and the worship of a supreme transcendent being(s).

Traditional Western religious concept of God is

anthropocentic patriarchal racially biased

Unlike most Naive American religious traditions, Western concepts of God tend to be

anthropocentric and patriarchal

Civil Religion

blends religion and cultual relativism, is a variant of divine command theory. Claims that God's commands are relative to a particular nation or culture

What are Rousseau's goals for boys and for girls

boys- become members of society girls- subservient wife/mother

According to Bellah, the morality supported by mainstream religion in the US is primarily based on

cultural relativism

Andrea Yates

drowned her five children,ranging in age from 6 mo-7yrs, to save them from Satan. Her reason, that God commanded her to do so.

Emile Durkheim argued in his book "The elementary forms of the religious life" that

each society creates God in its own image

According to Rousseau, how is society's negative influences remedied?

early education, concerned with removing all the obstacles to a child's natural learning, leave children in own world to learn from own mistakes.

divine command theory is a type of

ethical relativism

Divine Command Theory is a type of

ethical relativism-morality is dependent on or relative to God. morality does not exist imdependently of God's will, whether it be charity or and act of terrorism. no other independent universal moral standards by which to judge God's commands.

Gandhi maintained that is the soul-force that

gives the moral strength to persevere in nonviolent action and to love our oppressors and to engage in nonviolent action to otherthrow unjust social structures and to overcome evil.

Spirituality

is an inner attitude of reverence or deep respect for the ulitimate moral worth or sacredness of oneself and others, independently of a belief in a transcendent God or any particular religious or cultural doctrine.

According to divine command theory

it was morally acceptable for the terrorists to bomb the world trade center on 9/11 if the command to do so came from God.

Extrinsically religious people

join churches because of the secular benefits, such as social status. Likely to be indiscriminately proreligious, their faith does not usually translate into being a nuclear church member. Heteronomous moral reasoners woh uncritically accept the tenets of civil religion- including its narrow view of moral community.

Intrinsically religious people

join curces because faithis meaningful to them as an end in itself. Because of this, they are more likely to be active in their church.Are more autonomous and committed at the moral level and more likely to reject or protest cultural norms.

Natural law theory

maintains morality is based on universal, unchanging principles and that God commands or approves something because it is right prior to the command.

Supererogatory

morality that is beyond what is normally expected of an individual. Acts such as giving away belongings, risking life for a moral cause.

Theologian James Cone rejects

the "white American Christianity" that is built on racism, to reevaluate traditional Christian values, recognition of our common humanity and a refection of our racist and heirarchiacal concept of the moral community that rotates around a white-skinned God.

American exceptionalism

the belief that the USA is unique and superior to other nations is one of the key concepts in American civil religion

both Gottfried Leibniz s and John Hick explain the problem of evil and suffering by arguing that

the purpose of suffering is the perfection of our souls

On what grounds does philosopher David Hume argue that God does not exist?

the world is mechanistic; God, free will, and morality do not exist

If there is no God then, according to dct

there would be no morality

According to philosopher Gottfried Leibniz

this is the best of all possible worlds

According to Rousseau, when does corruption enter a child's world?

when adults enter the child's world and stop them from discovering who they are.