The Role of Religion in Guiding people in Facing Moral Dilemma

A moral dilemma exists when available choices and obligations do not allow for

moral outcomes. In such instances, a choice or an action is anticipated or required, and

all of the available alternatives violate some moral obligation. Moral dilemmas are not

uncommon when organizations and individuals are working to satisfy competing

interests, or when personal morals and professional obligations are directly opposed.

Any choice they make may have repercussions, but they must make a choice. This

situation presents what is called a moral conflict. The morals of an individual can come

in handy in this situation to guide them in making a decision. Morals refer to the values

held by a person and the principles of what is right or wrong that they hold dear. This

stems from the morality of an individual, which means the distinction of actions,

decisions, and purposes between those that are noted as appropriate and those that

are inappropriate. This is known as an individual dilemma, or a situation where a difficult

choice must be made between alternatives, especially ones that are equally

disagreeable as guided by morality. 

The morals of an individual can come in handy in this situation to guide them in

making a decision. Morals refer to the values held by a person and the principles of

what is right or wrong that they hold dear. This stems from the morality of an individual,

which means the distinction of actions, decisions, and purposes between those that are

noted as appropriate and those that are inappropriate. This is known as an individual

dilemma, or a situation where a difficult choice must be made between alternatives,

especially ones that are equally disagreeable as guided by morality.

Often, we assumed that our ethical positions originated as religious concepts. As

noted by Porter (1980), ethical questions were being debated long before Moses,

Jesus, and Muhammad. Since our sense of morality, fairness, and sociability are

strongly related to our sense of religiosity, our ethical concepts are greatly influenced by

our religious beliefs. But ethics and religion are not the same. An individual who has no
religious beliefs may still be an ethical person. Just as religious beliefs may affect our

attitude toward work, the desire to succeed, respect for authority, and compassion for

others; those same religious beliefs affect our judgements as to what are the ethical

courses of action in any given situation.

One of the distinctive features of religions is the belief that this life and the world

as we know it are not all there is. This does not detract from the importance of acting for

the good of other people in the world, but it does mean that there is a further dimension

to people's actions and the fruit those actions bear, a dimension unseen by other human

beings. This makes teachings about karma and rebirth, heaven and hell, afterlife and

the kingdom of God an important part of ethical discourse. There are this-worldly social

orientations to teachings and also other-worldly factors to beliefs and actions. In some

traditions these challenge each other.

So far, we have been considering the relation between God and the content of

our moral obligations, the actual rules governing what actions we ought to perform.

However, even if we conclude that our moral duties are independent of religious belief,

we could still insist that religious faith contributes to living a moral life. In other words,

religious practice might support our moral life in ways that are independent of

determining how we ought to act.

An obvious point is that fear of divine punishment provides a powerful motivation

for doing the right thing. However, it seems that morality requires doing the right thing

for the right reason, so we might want to insist that such action is not truly moral action.

More interestingly, faith and religion are more complex than simple adherence to

a set of doctrines. Usually, religions are social institutions that have long histories that

include stories of moral heroes (saints, prophets, etc.) contributing to our moral

understanding. Furthermore, religions usually provide moral codes that enjoin us to

proceed beyond the customary demands of the morality of the times, as when the
Qur’an advises us to seek knowledge (Sura 20:114) or appreciate diversity (Sura

49:13). The Buddha advises us to develop compassion, and Christ demands that we

love our neighbor; Guru Nanak insists on women’s equality from the beginnings of the

Sikh faith. Even if adherents often fall short of these ideals, the ideas encourage us to

move beyond what has been typically expected of people—in some cases, helping us to

reconceive our moral relationships to those who have traditionally been left out of our

moral thinking.

We should also recognize that as social institutions, religions provide support for

others, both within and without the religion. Religions offer charities that support poverty

alleviation. These same charities offer opportunities for the adherent to make a moral

difference in the world. Such voluntary work permits the individual to develop moral

sensitivity and even courage. It will often allow the adherent to escape from the self-

centeredness that so epitomizes much contemporary life. Indeed, the great twentieth-

century philosopher of religion John Hick (2005) thinks of religions as mainly concerned

with providing means by which we move beyond self-centeredness.

Another interesting idea to consider is what Robert Adams (1979) calls the

problem of “demoralization” without religion. Adams, drawing on some enigmatic ideas

from Kant’s Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone ([1793] 1960), suggests that the

moral agent needs to have a sense that her moral actions will be effective— “contribute

to a good world-history”—but this presupposes “a moral order of the universe.” Such an

order, he argues is best, but not exclusively, offered by a theistic religious belief.

The idea is that the world presented to us by contemporary scientific

understanding is a morally indifferent world, in which the agent has no guarantee that

things will work out in the end, that one’s moral efforts are not in vain. Such a world is

demoralizing inasmuch as it leads to questions about the point of moral life. The world

presented to us by most theistic religions is one in which moral life will, ultimately at

least, lead to a better world, for oneself as well as others. As such, religions make the

sacrifices, demands and frustrations of moral life more attractive.

 In response, we can agree with Adams that religion might make moral life more

attractive for some people but insist that his argument does not support the stronger

position that living morally demands religious faith. Quite clearly, there are millions of

people who live moral lives without the assurance of a moral order in the universe

brought about by religion.

When making ethical decisions, no one stands outside a social and cultural

world. Each of us judges human reality according to a set of adopted and adapted moral

criteria based on such factors as nationality, education, social class, professional

occupation, and, of course, religious affiliation.

Ethics has to do with our choices and actions, which form our character even as

they express it. Ethics depends on that human habit of reflection that takes into account

our interests and values-as well as those of others-in the process of deciding and doing.

Since it calls on perceptive thought, analytical and intuitive reasoning, and prudential

judgment, ethics is perhaps more art than science-the art of choosing well and wisely

for the good of self and others.

Ethics may be defined as disciplined reflection concerning moral conduct and

character. In scripture, such reflection is always disciplined by convictions about God’s

will and way and by commitments to be faithful to God. There are factors endow

religions and religious organizations with a great and under-utilized potential for

constructive conflict management. For instance, more than two-thirds of the world’s

population belongs to a religion. Religious organizations have a huge infrastructure with

a communication network reaching to all corners of the world. They have a great

responsibility and leadership is expected from them. Another one is religious

organizations have the capacity to mobilize people and to cultivate attitudes of

forgiveness, conciliation.

In a world marked by rapid innovation, ethical judgments allow us to sift the

evidence, name our values, and choose our means of achieving the best possible

results. Established law does not afford an efficient answer to every moral quandary,
precisely because new situations oblige us to imagine and enact new moral laws-or at

least to make new applications of existing moral certitudes about such issues as the

dignity of human life, the value of honesty and fairness, and the protection of the weak.

Yet ethics thrives exactly where people choose to live in the tension between that

which is and that which ought to be. A faith tradition not only illuminates a moral horizon

toward which we strive, but also gives reason for the hope that the horizon is aiding our

advance, that the Other is beckoning.

But the enticement of religion lies less with the social benefits of being religious

and more with the distinction that religious texts draw between “right” and “wrong.” An

individual's morals also depend on the values he or she was raised with, as well as

unique outlooks and circumstances, which are often altered during a lifetime. The idea

of morality has always been extremely difficult to define, and religion seeks to do so

more tangibly than anything else.

Religion and morality, in their most essential forms, are separate concepts. But

upon closer inspection, the two lean on each other for support, with religion

necessitating morality while the latter gives meaning to the words behind every sacred

text. Secular society needs to trust that people of faith will use religion to guide their

own lives and direct society in a moral direction to the benefit of all. Religion provides a

point of reference for ethical decision making.

The major religious traditions of the world all teach that human life is of great

value and should be respected. The viewpoints of single religions have sometimes

permeated societies and influenced their laws on financial assistance and health care

for those in need.

The law of the land in most countries is a secular legal system enforced by

police, judges, and penal systems. Because religions are ways of life as well as belief-

systems, they too have ideas about how people should behave and what should be

done when they behave badly. They also have their own teachings about justice and a
way for people to show that they are sorry for what they have done. But one main

characteristics of religion is its sense that order, truth and justice are ultimate cosmic

values and realities, not just human ideas. They are part of the way God wants things to

be, to put it in theistic terms, not just the creation of human societies. They are the very

nature of Enlightenment and Wisdom, to use their terminology.

The role of religion in the ethical context is the formation of conscience of the

people. A careful weighing of the practical outcomes of people's choices leads to the

elucidation of moral norms. The doctrines or teachings of the different religion

sometimes lead to moral dilemma since one teaching may be different from the other.

We can say that religion stands as the standard of morality especially for those who are

members of particular religion thus may lead others to moral dilemma because of the

differences of their moral values and the teachings of religion.