Evil

Last week one of my clients called me evil and like those individuals that we in this county currently consider evil, she to has considered me an ally in the past.

So why am I writing about this...well because it got me thinking about morality and religion. I at least in part prescribe to Kohlberg's theory of morality which states that people's moral development progresses through 6 stages. Going from rewards and consequences determining your behavior to consideration of the implications on mankind or to say it differently morality progresses from external to internal. Please keep in mind I am summarizing a complicated theory into a few sentences. But if someone is making decisions based on their preference for heaven over hell or to be in God's good graces their morality is external rather then internal. Which puts them about at stage 3. I have always considered religion to be a barrier to higher levels of moral thinking and then it hit me. Religion is only one stop along the way. When I am walking through the store I ultimately don't steal because I realize the social consequences of stealing but there is also a part of me that is thinking I don't want to go to jail and I don't want to embarrass my family or lose my job. So why cant religion also play a role in ones decision making without being the sole deciding factor, the answer is it can.