d, in return, that people are not moral if the sole reason for them doing it was to get to heaven. Dershowitz stated “doing the right thing because it is the right thing is more powerful than doing it because someone higher than you says so.” Fowler’s theory emphasises on the form of faith, not on a particular belief system. He believed that faith could be religious or non-religious, such as God, science, or humanity. Throughout his six stages, he links religion (faith) with morality, and how a person becomes increasingly moral as they grow older and learn more about faith. The relationship between religion and morality has existed throughout all time, and it has cost many senseless deaths and wars. The Crusades were a major example of how religion can be viewed negatively in politics. Dershowitz believed that if the Crusades were right, why were there not counter-Crusades? Keyes retorted that everyone has to be responsible and accountable. He believed that the horrible things done in the name of religion were just our world’s fallen nature. Furthermore, Dershowitz believed that the Bible was a great source for homophobia, sex inequality, racism, and egocentrism. Dershowitz and Fowler believed that the Bible is one source of morality, not the only. Alan Keyes avoided the answer, and he said that his morality comes from the Declaration of Independence. When it states “all men are created equal,” that is what he follows. I found the debate and Fowler’s stages to be interesting sources on the relationship between morality and religion. The public blames many of its problems on the link between religion and morality, but society also praises religion and morality for its helping in overcoming troubled times. Alan Dershowitz stated that the “burning of witches and execution of homosexuals” should be credited to religion being linked to morality. He also believed that the Bible is not a sa...
