Is morality (or ethical behavior) the product of religion?
Surely this is a question we can answer by looking at Kolhberg’s theory of morality* Kolhberg interviewed male children at different stages in their lives and give them moral dilemmas to ‘solve’. He found that people will provide six generic responses each reflecting increasingly complex moral thought from deciding based on fear of punishment to deciding based on universal ethical and abstract reasoning. Check out the weblinks provided below.* I personally believe that moral decisions ae human decisions and no God or religion is necessary to act in a moral way. In religion people may choose to lead a moral life for fear of torture in hell or for the hope of achieving entrance into heaven (punishments or rewards is stage 1 of Kolhbergs theory). Likewise religion may help people to understand an think in principles, ‘what would Jesus do?’ which are higher levels in Kohlbergs theory and finally the values of turning the other cheek, Love thy enemy, charity and living a good life may be th
