Culture and Religion

              Reading “Ethics and Religion, Moral Relativism,” the author does something very peculiar. He says that even though every culture is different, there is still an “underlying basis for all these specific codes” (14). He provides an analogy with sports and cultures; he says that like sports they can all be diverse but still have the same values and goals. With a closer analysis of cultures you can easily identify things that they have the same basic belief but just go about it in different ways. I completely agree with the author’s point here, but this argument makes me question why this same inference can’t be applied within religion and morality.

                The author, previously, gives many reasons why morality doesn't depend on religion. I found a flaw in one of his arguments claiming that every religion is so unique and different so each religion has their own set of moral precepts (10). This is quite hypocritical of the author because he then states that cultures have a common morality principle. Religion and culture are interconnected; religion gives codes of conduct to a culture. With that being said, I think the point he makes toward different cultures could be said with religion as well. For instance, Muslims have to cover themselves for their religion and Catholics do not. Even though they are not performing the same actions, the same underlying principle is apparent. In both religions, you are not allowed to have sexual intercourse before marriage; Muslims covering up is just a strong and modest behavior to avoid this sin.

                Overall, one can see that the sport analogy that the author used for comparing culture could be also used for comparing religion. Furthermore, various cultures and religions might have different practices but there are definite basic moral principles present that they all have in common.