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Ethics and morality

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Very brief overview:

When many people see the word "morality," their first thought often relates to sexual activity of some type. Many individuals and groups, like us, use much broader definitions.

Morality can be defined as a system of criteria that determine whether a specific act under defined conditions is right (moral), wrong (immoral), or neutral (no moral implications).

There are many sources of ethics and morality in use:

• Moral codes are often derived by theologians who interpret holy books, like the Jewish Torah, Christian Bible and Islamic Qur'an. Their conclusions are often accepted as absolute truth by believers. Unfortunately, each of these books contain apparent contradictions and ambiguities that must be harmonized. Since a person's interpretation of a holy book is heavily influenced by the interpreter's culture, theologians within a given religion -- and theologians among different religions -- often produce very different moral codes and theological beliefs. This places the validity of sets of moral codes derived from the Bible and similar texts, in serious doubt.
  
  
• Evolutionary sociobiologists view many human behaviors and elements of morality as having originated in primate societies among chimpanzees, bonobos, and early humans. They believe that moral codes evolved and adapted as human groups advanced from small hunter-gathering bands about 100,000 years ago, to tribes, to chiefdoms, and finally to nations circa 2000 BCE. ₁
  
  
• A current and very active debate involves the "science of morality" -- the concept that superior and objective systems of morality and ethics can be derived by studying human cultures and by then applying the scientific method in order to maximize people's well being. A leading proponent of this concept is Sam Harris who advocates in his book "The Moral Landscape" "... a conversation about how moral truth can be understood in the context of science." ₂

Needless to say, with such different sources from which moral systems can be derived, we can expect to be deluged for the foreseeable future with conflicting sets of moral codes concerning:

• equality for women,
• equality for sexual minorities like homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals, and other minorities,
• same-sex marriage,
• physician assisted suicide,
• abortion access, and
• many dozens of other topics.

There are an enormous number of topics that we hope to be covered eventually in this section. We have just begun to scratch the surface.

General introduction to morality:

• An introduction to morality. Diversity of beliefs. Biblical morality (Golden rule. Transferring guilt to the innocent.) Basis of morality
  
  
• Diversity of worldviews
  
  
• Truth: is it absolute or relative?
  
  
• Truth in religion
  
  
• How religions change/changed their teachings on slavery, the role of women, sexual orientation, etc.

Specific topics covered:

	Bible: Bible passages that are immoral by today's religious & secular standards The status of women in the Bible and early Christianity God's genocides Changing holy books in order to modify beliefs and alter behaviors
	Business ethics: Salaries paid to religious leaders of para-church groups in the U.S. Future Shop.ca in Canada Hoover in Canada People with disabilities, by the Canadian banking system
	Children: Preventable child deaths from unclean water and lack of sanitation Hitting children as a form of discipline Children being used as soldiers Shootings in public schools Safe haven laws for abandoned newborns Satanic Ritual Abuse
	Cloning: Ethical aspects of cloning Therapeutic cloning (creation of artificial organs)
	Denial of human rights of: People living in dictatorships Gays and lesbians seeking marriage Gays, Atheists, Agnostics and others in the Boy Scouts
	Employment discrimination against: Women seeking ordination Gays and lesbians People with disabilities, by the Canadian banking system
	Environment: Global warming and other environmental concerns
	Global ethic: Rules of behavor for all of humanity: Excerpts from "The Principles of a Global Ethic" The Declaraton of a Global Ethic
	Government: Moral and religious aspects of the 2004 presidential election Moral aspects of the 2006 budget and state of the nation speech A personal story about undocumented migrants: An essay by Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Moral aspects of the 2011 federal budget: An essay by Jim Wallis of Sojourers Followup essay on the budget What is the Circle of Protection? The moral aspects of reducing the budget on the backs of the poor The moral aspects of killing Osama Bin Laden: Part 1  Part 2
	Human sexuality Homosexuality and bisexuality transgender persons and transsexuals The HPV vaccine and cervical cancer Christian attitudes on sex and gender (Masturbation, homosexuality, abortion, ordination of women, status of women) Youth sexuality: sex-education, access to condoms, & pre-marital sex Rape in wartime
	Medical and mental health topics: Abortion -- religious and ethical aspects Ending discrimination in hospital visitation Emergency contraception Will Catholic hospitals make EC available to rape victims? Ethical aspects of human organ harvesting and transplanting Health care for all Human embryo & stem cell research Marijuana availability Medical treatment of pain: who gets it and who doesn't Physician assisted suicide Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT) Roman Catholic instructions in bioethics, 2008 "Dignitas Personae" Treatment of burns with fetal skin tissue
	Native peoples: The extermination of Canada's Innu people Suicide among Canada's Native people
	Polls: Activities that Canadians feel are immoral
	Racism: Racism surfacing in 2009-SEP, directed against President Obama
	Slavery: Past, recent & current slavery in Nazi Germany, Japan, Sudan, U.S., etc Financial compensation for Nazi slave laborers Japanese sex slaves

	War and terrorism: Land mines Financial compensation for Nazi slave laborers Governments' complicity in the Nazi holocaust Rape in wartime Japanese sex slaves When is killing a human permitted in Islam? The principle of tattarrus. The moral aspects of killing Osama Bin Laden: Part 1  Part 2 Muslim statements against terrorism
	Other material: Capital punishment; the death penalty Hate crime legislation Religious urban legends - contemporary beliefs that are hoaxes Do convicts have a right to access samples for DNA testing?

Reference used:

1. "Evolution of morality," Wikipedia, as at 2010-SEP-04, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
2. Sam Harris, "The Moral Landscape," Page 2, Free Press, 2010-OCT. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store Available in Kindle format.

See our "Hot" religious topics menu for additional essays with a moral component.

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