RELIGIOUS PRAXIS: ETHICS & MORALITY
Terminology:
- Beliefs: symbolic expressions of faith experience
- Rituals: symbolic enactments of faith experience
- Mores: normally accepted patterns of behavior in a society/culture
- Moral Imperative: what gives authority to or makes demands for particular
kinds of moral action; the basis for a moral demand (and for the particular
actions resulting from that demand)
- Morality: behavioral routinization of faith-filled vision (case specific);
a style of living based on "right" principles (i.e., standards of conduct);
how a person "ought to" feel, think and behave; moral imperatives and actions;
primary-level reflection; direct involvement in experiencing and expressing
in one's life both a religious moral imperative and religious moral action
- Ethics: philosophical vision of the relational implications of the faith
experience; "the systematic and conscious process of understanding, evaluating,
and interpreting morality" (Hall 125); second-level reflection; reflective
analysis of morality, raising critical questions about the principles enunciated
in moral discourse (e.g., re: their meaning, validity, implications)
Two Poles of Moral Reasoning:
- external a set of beliefs/stories/wisdom of a tradition -- e.g., varna,
asrama, dharma system (caste, life stage, duty) of Hinduism; the
"decorum" (li) of Confucianism; the debarim (Ten Commandments)
of Judaism and Christianity; the "Precepts of the Church" for Roman
Catholics
- internal direct, "unmediated" religious experience (i.e., the quality
of the experience, not the expression of it) -- e.g., bodhi
as the basis for all behavior in Buddhism, the enlightenment experience
as leading to the imperative of love for all beings, the experience
of selflessness as leading to compassion; Paul's "law of the Spirit
of life" which is written on the heart (Rom 2:12-29; 8)
BUT, these are not opposed to one another. They are two poles of a dialectic; thus,
both are essential to moral decisions and both are present in moral action. Cf., Paul's
notion of conscience (in 1 Cor), that one must have full conviction in order to be
engaging in moral action; Jewish rabbinic notion of intention (kavanah) as
necessary for carrying out the Law.
Questions:
- What is the ultimate value (to you)?
- What are the key values which derive from it? Or: What do you worry about
most?
- What are the sources for ethical decision-making? i.e., where do "oughts"
arise? e.g., Reason, Experience, Scripture, Tradition, Church, Community?
- How should one apply these values/ethics? This question concerns
morality; morality "operates at the intersection of the person and the world"
(e.g., Bernardin's "Seamless Garment" argument spells out specific
moral behaviors based on his overall standpoint of "A Consistent Ethic of
Human Life.")