Comparative Religion in America - RS101DL
Mr. Frank Farrell


Ethical Dimension

    The key factor of the Ethical Dimension is that a person's beliefs and
behavior go hand in hand with one another.  A person's beliefs are the basis
for their actions.  These beliefs are often something that is instilled in a
person by their religious background, but that is not always the case.  A
group's ethics also come about by the society they live in.  There are times
when these two sources can clash also.
    From the religious perspective, each religious group has rules of conduct
that the members must follow.  These rules determine the group's ethical
standpoint.  The 10 Commandments are a prime example of a source of ethics. 
They are rules that the members are expected to follow such as thou shall not
kill and thou shall not commit adultery.  People that do not follow these
rules are considered sinners.  In order for them to repent they must ask for
forgiveness to be on the right path to heaven again.  There are other morals
that churches follow such as not using birth control for religious reasons. 
Men and women are supposed to be open to having children.  They should be
putting their faith in God that they will have children when they are
supposed too.  God wouldn't give a person more responsibilities then they can
handle.  People that use a medical from of birth control are using science to
control the course of nature.  They are therefore not doing God's will and
not putting their confidence in God.  Therefore, they are not making an
ethically religious decision.
    Each county also has their social form of ethics that have no basis in
religion.  These morals can deal with but not limited to not killing people
or animals and rules for driving.  In our country, if a person harms or
tortures an animal, such as a cat or dog, charges can be brought against
them.  In other countries though, it is common practice to use cats and dogs
for a source of food.  In the nicer restaurants here we can pick out a
lobster to have for dinner.  In other countries, they pick out their cat or
dog for dinner.  Drunk driving in our country can lead to having a license
suspended or possible jail time depending upon if others are injured.  Some
other countries though consider drunk driving a more serious offense and some
execute the offenders on the spot.  These differences aren't because one
country is right and the other is wrong.  Each country just has their own
beliefs of what is considered ethical.
    There are yet other times when church and state clash.  Christian
Scientists believe that God will heal them through prayer and there is no
need for medicine.  Parents who practice this belief and force it upon their
children can be charged with a crime if their children die cause of their
beliefs.  From the legal standing, the parents could have put their children
in harms way by something as simple as not having children vaccinated for the
measles.  It's a matter of church and state having different options of what
is considered ethical.
    Abortion is always a heated debate.  Churches see abortions as murder of
children.  Government on the other had do not consider the fetus a person
yet.  Therefore it is not considered murder, only a medical procedure.  It's
common to hear of demonstrators outside of abortion clinics.  Often it is
religious groups that are protesting cause of their beliefs that abortion is
murder.  What amazes me though is when you get the few demonstrations that
involve a bomb being thrown in the clinic.  I can't seem to understand how
these people have the nerve to say people are committing murder of an unborn
child, yet they don't see the harm in injuring others with a bomb - in the
name of God.
    Ethics are a touchy subject when you consider how people are raised and
live by a different code of standards.  It seems as if there is always some
group that is attempting to force their ethical beliefs on others.  I
remember in high school when we talked about ethics in religion.  We were
told what we were allowed to believe and what was considered wrong.  We were
not allowed to question those teachings.  By questioning we were thought to
be wrong and were told that we didn't belong to the church if we didn't agree
with the church.  Everything seemed to be in black and white, there was no
room for a gray area.  I remember the teacher's standing on suicide in
particular.  According to them, suicide was wrong in the eyes of the church
because we were taking our lives when it wasn't God's will for us to die.  I
always thought it was wrong simply because it didn't solve the problem.  Now
I know it's only a matter of the different options of ethics.