On Morality and Religion

Morality can be defined as "Choosing to do what is right, regardless of what you are told." So if your religion requires you to do what you are told regardless of what is right, then that religion has ceased to be moral and to merit our respect.

The Christian believer may ask, of course,  how we can know for sure what is right, unless God tells us. We have a conscience, but though helpful it is not a sufficient guide (as may be seen from the fact that there is much disagreement over what is moral and what isn't). Israel's history was rarely darker than that time when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). Rather, "fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Morality is choosing to do what is right, but what is right is whatever God tells us to do. 

As a committed Christian, for the most part I feel bound to affirm the truth of that statement. Nevertheless, the sad truth is that many evil acts are perpetuated by individuals, groups and organisations who claim the authority of God for what they do. It's clear that, for the believer, God cannot be placed under a higher authority called "morality" - he is himself the source of morality - but there are many voices working on us that would claim to represent God, and scripture itself can be misused and distorted. Radical Islam is one manifestation of this, but only one; churches, and the Church, capital C, have been guilty in their time of acting in ways that do damage and harm to others, and it's hard for me to see that as anything but immoral. I suppose I'm wanting to say that religion and faith are different things, even though, ideally, they coincide?

I think I'm also saying that the Christian should be using as his or her moral reference not the mores of society around, not the words of scripture, not even their own conscience, good guide though that may be, but the person and life and teachings of Jesus, and particularly those two central statements: "Love one another, as I have loved you" and "Let the greatest among you be as the servant of all."