I think articles like this are misleading and counter-effective,
http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/religion-still-helps-shape-views-morality
Honestly with regard to such nebulous issues like morality, is it really helpful to poll people based on vague questions like "Is it wrong?".
Then again, if we were to keep the analysis of certain actions and the morality of these actions in vague emotivist labels like "wrong" then yes, you will get an emotive response to a moral issue and no further thought/reflection on the part of the respondent. The publication of such polls does not help breed moral actions...this instead reinforces a "react first, do not reflect" and then justify one's stand with being in the "moral majority" sequence.
Instead, we need to educate people that "right" and "wrong" labels are evolutionary, social and historical constructs as responses to environmental concerns. Only then can we move beyond 'right" and "wrong" and advance towards "better" and possibly even "best".
So many of our countrymen are stranded in the foggy world of cultural morality and understand themselves to being morally opposed to others when in reality, our moral sense are much closer than what we assume (see "the trolley problem" and how people of various faith react to it). This is because they have had no formal exposure to ethics (moral philosophy) and also lack knowledge on how cutting edge research (in neuroscience and animal behavioural studies) for example is enriching our understanding in this field.
And also, we will not proceed far as a critical thinking society if we do not allow for free constructive criticism (backed with evidence) about all set of beliefs/values. Labelling any set of beliefs/values as sacred and unquestionable does not allow for genuine critical thinking to flourish.
Lastly I lament the constant need for the maintenance of religious and racial harmony which comes from ignorant tribalism that a society founded on critical thinking and science (for example, see iGENEA: DNA Gennealogy research) will demolish. If only more people knew more science and allowed for their constructs to be destroyed with the clarity of science and critical thinking....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This is old but I was discussing this with a friend and the topic came up. That article isn't only misleading, it's full of holes. /:
1. First of all, having ‘no religion’ doesn't mean they can be lumped together into one group. There are those that don’t identify with any religion because they don’t believe in some of the things their religion says, but still draw a lot from it. There are atheists, there are deists, there are freethinkers. I am very sure that if they separated the group out further, they would get a much better idea of stances on ‘moral issues’ without religious views being ‘intertwined’ (dumb claim in the article).
2. ‘same-sex relations’, as stated in the article, is equated to sex between two members of the same sex (in the table).
3. Quote “On this count, those with no religion were almost as “conservative” as those with a religion.” And then he gives the example of 65% of people with no religion think same-sex sex is wrong, which was almost as much as 78% of all the other groups. No, let’s be fair. If you count the average of the 6 religious groups (not counting ‘other’ or ‘no religion’), the number is 81%. There is a clear difference. And if the survey actually separated the ‘no religion’ group further, we could have really seen how ‘conservative’ the different groups are.
Maybe I’m biased. Maybe I think same-sex love and sex and ‘relations’ are fine and that religion is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of such equality. Maybe I think religion brings more problems than solutions. I’m not saying religion should be eradicated! I think it does good; it gives people comfort and a sense of belonging. It gives ‘morally-weak’ people a sense of right and wrong (since usually the bad stuff in the bible, for instance, is omitted during masses).
It’s fine to have a religion and beliefs from that religion, but don’t bring it to the secular domain. Keep it to yourself. Share it amongst your friends and church/temple/mosque. But when you legislate it, the line is crossed. I don't think it's fair to infringe on the rights of others.
Post a Comment