JackDaydream wrote: ↑October 3rd, 2022, 7:10 am
It is a complex area because, unfortunately, if ethics is only seen as relevant in connection with religious belief it is a fear based approach as opposed to ethics based on rationality and a genuine conscience.
Spirituality, i.e. liturgy and prayer, connect directly to the biological firmware. This part of religion is not rational -- and not even meant to be rational -- a bit like sexual intercourse is not meant to be rational.
The other part of religion, i.e. the moral theory, can be rational, depending on the religion. For example, in Judaism and Islam, morality is rational.
In Christianity, it is clearly not:
(Worms, Germany, April 1521, at the Imperial Diet)
Luther: If you can show me through scripture and reason that I have erred, I will retract what I have written.
Papacy (Johann Eck): But Martin, the Bible itself is the arsenal whence each evil heretic has drawn his deceptive arguments.
Clerical religions, such as Christianity, could actually be rational, but refuse to be. In a clerical religion, the authority of the clergy will always overrule the scripture. The issue is truly about power. As a result, morality in such religion is not a legitimate moral theory. It is not a system, and it cannot be used as a system. This problem was long recognized and known about Christianity:
Quran, surah Tawbah aya 31 wrote:
They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.
In fact, Christian morality is not completely irrational, because there is actually quite a bit of logic in the madness. It is predictable in its corruption, because the corrupt input of the clergy will always seek to increase the power of Church and State. But then again, the idea that all religion would be corrupt because Christianity is clearly corrupt, is a western fallacy. That view is misguided.