What's so bad about Dogmatic morality? (religious virtue?)?

Question

We've established that men are wont to err (they tend to screw up). You only need to look at the news to find people who commit unspeakable acts on others (and YES, in the name of religion, too).

But if religion and God are taboo, what do you replace them with? How can you best teach kids to treat each other nobly? I feel that Religious virtue can be a guide for living with your fellow humans if properly applied. Even if you don't believe in God, what's wrong with the fundamental moral Code? (don't steal, kill, covet your neighbor's wife, etc.)

Blinddog, you've nearly nailed it pending something better. But consider that most religious dogma shares the same basic tenets of respecting other's lives and property. (maybe the first thing we should do is kill all the priests and start over...)

Answer 1

In general i think it has to do with a very inflexible code trying to be adapted to a very fluid world currently. In much of history you could use an intutively based dogmatic set of morality and it worked fairly successfully for a lot of people. However for a lot of people to be successful in this world it requires them to work with and along side people of differing beliefs. If you cannot do this because you are unable to work with those who are unlike yourself, it forces a very disadventageous situation.

No one is really against the idea of promoting life, not stealing, and treating your neighbor like you want to be treated. But its the incredibly inflexibility of the issues of lesser importance that cloud what could be a much better perspective. Certainly people can live a fufilling life by practicing dogmatic devotion to priniciples of a wide variety of faiths. But its important to realize in an increasingly fluid world, that such rigid standards which are applied to people who view things differently is not going to help promote many of the ideals which people are supposed to live up to.

No one is perfect, but seemingly much like a lot of other things, a few exceptionally bad apples have ruined things for many well minded and thinking people.

Answer 2

Moral codes are often complex definitions of right and wrong that are based upon well-defined value systems. They dictate proper personal conduct. Although some people might think that a moral code is simple, rarely is there anything simple about one's values, ethics, etc. or, for that matter, the judgment of those of others. The difficulty lies in the fact that morals are often part of a religion and more often than not about culture codes. Sometimes, moral codes give way to legal codes, which couple penalties or corrective actions with particular practices. Note that while many legal codes are merely built on a foundation of religious and/or cultural moral codes, ofttimes they are one and the same.

Examples of moral codes include the Golden Rule; Wiccan Rede; the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism; the Ancient Egyptian Code of Maàt ;the ten commandments of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; the yamas and niyama of the Hindu scriptures; the ten Indian commandments; and the principle of the Dessek.

Fundemental moral codes are not restricted to the Bible. Morality was around way before the Bible. Every religion has similar moral codes. Philosophers have moral codes. The law is based on moral codes, and any child who is taught the concept of "how would you like it if somone did that to you?" knows moral codes.

I think we could function as a society without dogmatic codes. Morality isn't all that hard.

Answer 3

Virtue, ethics, integrity, morals and responsibility are all required, all are musts, in order to live with one another!

Early on, the Ten Commandments were used to judge the people.

Our Constitution and Declaration were both written by people that were deeply religious, and taught their children how to read using the Bible.

In fact, all of our schools used the Bible to teach reading long before any state had a public School system. Too, as public school; systems were created by each stated, they still used the Bible to teach reading. It was way after the beginning of the 20th Century that other books were printed to become material to start beginning reading.

Answer 4

I agree with you one hundred percent. The Bible has been the guideline for morality for a very long time. That is why we have In God We Trust on our money. We are supposed to be a christian country. When God is totally removed it will be terrible. Satan and evil will be in control. I hope I am not here when that happens.

Answer 5

Nothing is wrong with it. We all need boundaries to stay within we are miserable jerks who can hardly see our way clear to come in out of the rain so Yea we need direction. God being God does not mess with our Pride when he tells us what to do because afterall he IS God.

Answer 6

it is not the code that is wrong, it is the imposition of the code on others that is problamatic.
if u believe in a particular religion or faith, or set of values----good. the best wud be to practice it. whn u start to preach it, and show to the rest of the world that their religion is inferior or flawed---thats wht leads to problems.