Chapter 5 - Ethics and Religion (Activity 2)

B. Answer the following:

1. What are the instances that illustrate the influential role of religion in the ethical issues in
the Philippines? Same-sex marriage, SOGIE Bill and Death Penalty are great examples of this. I
remembered that all of the churches and religious leaders of different sects opposes the RH
bill which aims access to sexual education and birth control but later on it was passed and
former President Benigno Aquino III signed it.

2. What makes religion an effective or ineffective ethical norm?

Religion is what shapes our culture and norms. But, I do believe that people should have
atleast live according through their faith and not being forced to obliged.

3. What are other examples of extrimist practice of religion from other cultures?

I have researched 3 religious extrimist groups that uncovers the unethical ways by their
practices.

1. Children of God - founded by former pastor David Berg in 1968. The primary belief
practiced by followers/ members of this group is said that it is a divine right to have a sexual
relationship with anyone of any age including minors and children.

2. Westboro Baptist Church - founded by Pastor Fred Phelps that provokes people to kill LGBT
and to hate Catholics and Jews.

3. Aum Shinpikyo - founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984; a Japanese doomsday cult; He claims
that he is Christ.

4. Does extremism automatically discredit religion as an ethical norm? Why or why not? Yes,
because the phrase "religious extremism" describes faith-based actions that are deliberate
attempts to cause harm to other people. It includes violent religious movements, routine
asceticism that is extreme enough to cause medical concern, beliefs that cause harm through
denial of medicine or mental harm through abusive family behaviours. Religious tolerance,
multiculturalism and equality are the particular targets of extremists. Their own religion
provides guidance that trumps any secular law or any concept of human rights.

Religion is supposed to unite people in love, peace, and unity. It should propagate the virtues
of respect and deep care for one another. Therefore, if a religious group or association that
advocate the annihilation of particular groups or nationalities because of any reason ceases
to be a religion.

5. What are the insights of Thomas Aquinas about religion and ethics? Aquinas believes that
we can never achieve complete or final happiness in this life. For him, final happiness consists
in beatitude, or supernatural union with God. Such an end lies far beyond what we through
our natural human capacities can attain. For this reason, we not only need the virtues, we
also need God to transform our nature—to perfect or “deify” it—so that we might be suited
to participate in divine beatitude.

Within Aquinas’ frame, ethical philosophy is about deciding the best way to live one’s life.
This is continuous with wider ancient and Medieval approaches. Modern theorists tend to
assume that people have a vast field of options which morality pares down. In contrast,
Aquinas believes people need to identify meaningful goals before they can act. As such, moral
theory is a way to facilitate action, rather than to limit it.

Although Aquinas believes in religious faith and the revealed truths of the Christian tradition,
his philosophy is not on, the whole, grounded in either. In other words, most of Aquinas’
arguments do not require that the reader take the Bible as true in order to accept its premises
and conclusions. Rather, Aquinas seemed to think that some truths could be demonstrated in
secular ways, which Christianity simply repeated or made clearer. He also thought that
reasoning could be used to figure out specific things that Christian doctrine did not make
clear. For instance, unlike Islam and Judaism, Christianity never had its own tradition of law.
This opens space for philosophers to provide what religious doctrine did not. Aquinas’
approach, valuing empirical knowledge, entails a partial rejection of the Christian denigration
of the body. For Aquinas, the body is not the prison of the soul, but a means for its expression.