Maggie Lavoie

Here, Thomas Jefferson seems to separate morals and religion, in the sense that teaching morals does not require teaching religion. This dissociation reminds me of a discussion about morals and religious beliefs that I had in my Engagement. In my debating Islams Class, we compared and contrasted how three different Presidents (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) approached and addressed the religion of Islam during their Presidencies. Our in-class discussion led us to talking about how during Presidential campaigns, candidates will often state their religious affiliation despite our country’s basis of a separation of church and state. Why, we asked, would candidates do this? We came to the conclusion that there is an inherent implication of morals in holding religious beliefs that is obviously appealing for a candidate to portray about him/herself. So, in the context of ethics at the University, is it possible to completely separate the moral nature of religion from religion itself or, deep down, are they inherently linked?