Please read last 2 db paragraphs and provide a 2 part 100 word total minimum response. The first 2 paragraphs is the actual db question for reference.

Discussion Question

Part I

The information that you will need for the discussion can be found in Case 14, p. 49; Case 11, p. 167; and Case 12a, p. 62 of Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues. For one of these cases, identify the parties and the moral issue(s) posed by religious belief, keeping an eye out for similarities that it shares with the other cases. Identify common ground. You may draw on any moral concepts discussed throughout the course: utility, duties, rights, virtues, and care.

Part II

In this week’s module we took a look at what is often called the ‘Euthyphro Dilemma’. Socrates is looking for that characteristic that makes all holy acts and only holy acts, holy. Acts we saw might have all sorts of characteristics. They might be done slowly, frequently, in the evenings, in the presence of many other people, few people, etc. Are any of these characteristics (being slow, frequent, occurring in the evenings, being done in the presence of many people, few people, etc.) absolutely required for an act to be holy, or are they just incidental? Think of an example of a holy action. What absolutely must be part of it; what can be omitted without loss? Give your best answer, and as always be sure to provide your reasons for believing it to be the best answer.

Request 2 part DB Response

Part 1:

In case 12a on page 62 of our Critical Thinking textbooks the parties involved are the Chrisitan missionary and the members of the primitive jungle settlement. The moral issue posed by religious belief is that the idea that extramarital promiscuity is wrong. According to Divine Command Theory we can focus on this situation from either an autonomous moral standard or traditional divine command theory perspective, both view that “right and good depends on what God commands” (module 8). According to the text, “if we accept the autonomy thesis, then there exists a moral standard independent of God” (Burnor and Raley 281). This implies that the perceived sin of extramarital relations is part of a set of rules and “there is a standard, independent of God” (Burnor and Raley 281). However, traditional divine theory could suggest that extramarital promiscuity is okay so long as God says it’s okay “anything could thus be made right just as long as God wills or commands it” (Burnor and Raley 281). Something all three cases have in common is clash of religious and social morals. Just because Christianity frowns upon adultery, doesn’t make it universalizable. As we learned with “(Popular) Relativism: there can be different moral standards for different societies” (Burnor and Raley 26). The practice of polygamy can be found in more than one religion worldwide, and perhaps because of the isolation of the jungle settlement, members must keep the gene pool diverse to fight against the deformities too much incest would cause. Although the Christian missionary is there to promote their Christian values, the right the settlement natives have to their way of life is protected under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which “gives rights of: life, liberty, and security of the person including religion and thought…these rights belong to any hunan individual, no matter what country they belong to” (Module 5). 

Part 2:

A characteristic of an act to be holy, is: good and pure intentions. A holy act, even if the person in action receives a benefit from their action, must come from a place of selflessness where they only acted out of good (and pure) intentions. A holy action could be the building of a school in an underdeveloped country. The fact that a school is being built in this area is a good thing, no matter what the intentions are behind it. However, when done by “someone who perfectly embodies Kantian or utilitarian moral ideals-a moral saint” (Burnor and Raley 231) then the act can also be holy. I believe this is the best answer because along with action, one must also come from a good and loving place and since God carries out his will with good and love for us, it should be our goal to emulate what he wants us to be as much as possible. 

works cited:

Raley, Richard Burnor/Yvonne. Ethical Choices. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.