The Universality Of Morality

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The Universality of Morality (NAME) (CLASS) (PROFESSOR'S NAME) (DATE) Morality has always been a subject of debate; many people have difficulty with the fact that it's one of those abstract ideas that has no concrete, universal meaning to all people. Such is the topic of this paper: to explore the universality of morality and its consequences. One of the first things one must do in order to understand morality better is to make an effort to clearly distinguish what is moral from what is legal. Though one tends to be loosely based on the other, they are not truly the same. First, there are many laws that have been put forth, not in an effort to enforce ethics, but in order to protect the governed. An example of this would be laws requiring drivers to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets. Not wearing a helmet or seat belt would not be considering immoral or wrong to most people, just really stupid. So laws were put in place to enforce them. Second, in our modern times when politics have taken such a huge public interest (or concern), lawmakers often feel pressure from lobbyists to pass laws which are immoral. For example, same sex marriage is always a touchy subject; one that has such fierce opposition from so many people that it has continued to be an issue in law for decades, and will continue to do so. I am of the opinion that, if one separates religion from morality, one sees that same sex marriage and copulation is not immoral at all. There are many animals who practice homosexuality, in fact it has been observed in over 1,500 different species! (Bagemihl, 1999). The vast majority of opposition to same sex marriage stems from conservative Christian religious beliefs. Its practitioners believe they are acting on moral terms, but are truly basing their ideas on religious faith. In other words, same sex marriage may be taboo, but it is not
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