Whats the difference between societal ethics vs. religious ethics?

Answer 1

You are talking about a group within a group. The religious group is a part of the larger societal group. For example: The ethics of a certain society may allow divorce; however the ethics of a religion within that society may not allow divorce.

Answer 2

Not all religions share the same ethics. Not all social institutions share the same ethics. What might be ethical or "right" for one, may not be "right" for the other. Most social ethics seem to share the same basic princilpes, don't murder, don't steal.....but religious ethics depend on the religion. For instance, with Hinduism, it is not ethical to eat meat from animals, because they believe that animals are reincarnate humans, and hold the same value as a human. Christians do not see anything wrong with eating meat, there are no ethical rules being broken. In American society, it is now generally accepted for 2 mature consenting adults, to have a sexual relationship, without being married, but this breaks ethical rules for most religions, especially Christianity. The list goes on and on.