Ryan McKay email the author, Harvey Whitehouse
at APA PsychNet
On the other hand, given a particular moral conflict relating to a particular set of circumstances, where exactly does moral psychology end and the psychology of religion begin. Human psychology in a free will world clearly revolves around trying to figure out what any specific thing means in the context of grappling with what everything intertwined into the "human condition" means.Descriptive Ethnocentrism
If moral psychology is to contribute to the psychology of religion, it will have to describe a moral domain as expansive as that of the Gods.
—Graham and Haidt
And, even given our own tiny slice of that, the relationship between them is going to be murky at times to say the least.
In fact, how do you make that distinction yourself given a situation in which your own moral convictions were challenged?
The bishop of course is the very embodiment of the psychology of religion: a God, the God, my God. But where does his moral psychology fit into my own assumption regarding dasein, conflicting goods and political economy? In other words, "politics" is but one more contributing factor to our collective "failure to communicate". Maybe God should have thought that part through more when He created us.When a newspaper headline reads “bishop attacks declining moral standards,” we expect to read yet again about promiscuity, homosexuality, pornography, and so on, and not about the puny amounts we give as overseas aid to poorer nations, or our reckless indifference to the natural environment of our planet.
—Singer
And here's how far that "failure to communicate" can go:
What objective moral truths would you impart to him in order to change his mind? After all, are there or are there not those among us who argue that rape is, in fact, perfectly "natural"? And God has been used to rationalize everything from slavery to genocide.In a recent interview, the Hon. Rev. Fr. Simon Lokodo, Ugandan Minister of Ethics and Integrity, indicated that he viewed the heterosexual rape of young girls as preferable to consensual homosexuality:
Lokodo: I say, let them do it but the right way.
Interviewer: Oh let them do it the right way? Let them rape children the right way? What are you talking about?
Lokodo: No I am saying, at least it is [the] natural way of desiring sex.
Consider:
https://emergencenj.org/blog/2019/01/04 ... ne-slavery
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family ... -holy-war/
So, where exactly does one draw the line between moral psychology and the psychology of religion here?
You tell me.From a contemporary Western liberal perspective, there is a chilling irony to the fact that Lokodo’s ministerial portfolio involves upholding moral values and principles. What could be more immoral than the rape of a child, a manifestly harmful act? Is it conceivable that Lokodo’s opposition to homosexuality is morally motivated?
FYI
Here is a thread from ILP that explores my own views on religion: https://ilovephilosophy.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=186929