Ethics Fundamentally Depends upon the Existence of God - Essay Example

Ethics make humans different from animals, otherwise, man is just another kind of animal. As long as there are ethics, there is humanity. The question here is, “Who decides the ethical standards for humans?”

Certainly, the answer is God Almighty! There are various religions in this world, that differ in their intrinsic concepts, beliefs, trends, traditions, teachings, norms, and values. However, almost all religions have one thing in common, what is good is appreciated by all religions and what is bad is condemned by all in general. Religion serves as the standard institution for the followers. The fundamental concept of a religion is that there is a God, or Gods (as some religions may emphasize), who has laid out certain standards for the followers.
God conveys through religion what is good and what is bad. In addition to that, God has also inculcated a sense in humans so that they may differentiate between right and wrong. When people believe in God, they tend to respect ethics because they have fear of God. Thus, ethics cultivates in society and becomes a standard for people to abide by. For example, murder is considered wrong “not just” because it is against humanity, “but also” because it is condemned by God, and God has inflicted punishment of burning in hell for those who kill others (Baumgarth and Regan).

If some people do not believe in God, they would still have the sense to distinguish between right and wrong. People would always have absolute dignity but there would be little to no realization. There would be moral obligations, and hence ethics. However, ethics would be no scale on which to measure the justification of human actions. Without God, people would be free to do anything they like. They would have no fear of God to abstain from doing wrong things because people derive pleasure from doing wrong.

Staying on the right path is tough and imparts little pleasure to the individual. God compels people to abide by religious teachings. Therefore, in a society where there is no belief in God, people would still have an intrinsic sense of ethics, though they would not respect it because they would know that there is no accountability. Where there is God, there is accountability! Without a belief in God, people would disrespect ethics and violate its laws, though ethics would always be there because it is an outcome of human psychology. Read More