my first philo of ethics quiz

i didn't get an A for this one, but the lone comment i got from my professor was GOOD. it made my day happy and i just had to share this.

 

question: "one can persistently determine oneself or attempt to fulfill oneself despite the presence of moral evil by sustaining this by some form of belief in God." is this a rational response to moral evil? explain your answer.

 

answer: a statement such as this somehow makes the existence of God sound as if it were indeed a universal truth that everyone (no exceptions) should live by. however, the reality is that all people are capable of and entitled to do good, whether he or she is a believer of God, and in the same argument, everyone else is also capable of doing evil. self-determination does not necessarily mean that there is a need to believe in God to achieve it, which also brings me to argue that even non-believers can achieve determination, and avoid evil actions as well. this statement concludes the exclusivity of promotion of the good, avoidance of evil, and self-determination to believers in God, which in reality is not true. however, it is true that faith helps in a person's desire to do good and respond to moral evil. faith, to most believers, is an important guide of their way of living, doing, and being. the danger, however, is that there might be reduction of doing good and avoiding evil to all in the name of faith. humanity, in both obvious and subtle ways, is also an important beneficiary of someone's good action/s. we do good because we wish to find the meaning of our lives in as much time given to us to exist in this world. in doing good, our lives are given much more meaning, because day by day, we realize what our purpose is in this life.