Can a person be good without religious faith?
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS: Your contributions should be thoughtful and developed. Answer all parts of the question and use concepts from the course materials. Use a professional style of communication, with attention to grammar, spelling, and typos; cite your sources. Original posts must be between 350-500 words If you follow the discussion rubrics it will show and your grade will be HIGHER.
The following options are provided so that you CHOOSE ONE and respond to it based on your reading of the articles provided this week and your best critical thinking. Follow the rubrics to obtain the highest grade possible.
- Consider this question: “Can a person be good without religious faith?” For example, if someone is certain that no one would ever find out, what prevents them from lying in order to get what they want? If they don’t believe that God will punish them for “bad” behavior, what is to prevent them from doing it? Explain clearly your reasons for saying yes or no to the question. Are these reasons that all rational people should accept? Why or why not?
- One of the things that makes ethical egoism such an attractive theory at first glance is that it seems to describe the way we act anyway; this is also sometimes known as psychological egoism. Think of a time that you did something that may have been considered morally praiseworthy, but where your motivation was your own self-interest. You actually have to have benefited from this action. Would you say that what you did was morally praiseworthy? If not, does thinking about egoism change your mind? Why or why not?
- Singer strongly suggests that we are our brother’s keeper and that we should live only on what we need to exist, not what we want, as long as there are hungry people in the world. Analyze his article and tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Is a cure for poverty your responsibility, the non-profits in the area, the local government, the national government, or no one’s?
- Consider the religion you were born into or practice now. Is there some moral rule you can think of that depends entirely on that religion for its validity? For example, would you make a pro-life or pro-choice rule a moral rule for everyone to follow? Why or why not?
- What the video at https://youtu.be/ZJZoOGXIXQU then respond to all of the three following questions: a) what do you think about what you saw; b) what would it take you to do something similar?; c) why do you think we do not have more of people like this man?
- Watch the video at https://youtu.be/QoH8_EH6WMI and then respond to the following three questions: a) why is forced prostitution related to poverty; b) why is the work of this woman so important to address the issue of poverty; and, what would you tell a man that buys a woman´s body for pleasure about poverty.
For your consideration: world hunger. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Hunger_Index
