Purpose Context: Religion, Ethics, and Morality

Religious Beliefs Influence Purpose

Religion has defined purpose for humankind for ages. It typically tells us what THE Purpose of life is and secondarily structures what is possible for A Purpose in life for the individual, meaning that each religion has its own way of justifying an individual’s life and prescribing their purpose. Religious or non-religious beliefs regarding the purpose of life can influence the attractive options for a Purpose in Life. Check out the following table for some examples (it gets expanded on later on!).

Another way to look at it is to embellish Scott Barry Kaufman’s sailboat of needs.

The sailboat of needs explains that we must first fulfill the primary needs of survival and security such as food, shelter, and safety (represented by the boat itself) before we focus on growth needs such as exploration, love, and purpose (represented by the sail). To repurpose this for explaining the framing religion imposes on our sense of purpose, imagine the boat and the sail representing different sources of purpose, and religious (or non-religious) belief representing the type of vessel overall. The type of boat will influence what options are available for Purpose in Life, assuming the security purposes are met.

The yellow boat below outlines the elements of the sailboat while the different colored boats below are examples of Purposes in Life influenced by both religious/non-religious beliefs and the prioritization of survival purpose.

While in no way a prerequisite for purpose, religion is a reliable source for guiding purpose for many people.^5,6,7,8  The research gets a bit confusing when it comes to causation, though. Religion itself does not stand apart from community, relationships, and sense of service in its ability to predict purposefulness.^{35, 36} However, because religion tends to foster community, relationships, and sense of service, it becomes a natural path to purpose for many.

Yet it’s still important to keep in mind the difference between THE purpose OF life and A purpose IN life when it comes to religion. A religion may prescribe a purpose OF life and the people who practice that religion may additionally value various life-paths that indirectly (or directly) support their purpose OF life. Imagine how different religious communities perceive those who clean the Mosque, people who make a great deal of money, or perhaps doctors.

Another interesting correlation regarding Purpose and religion is a relationship between the religiosity of a nation, its economic standing, and its sense of purposefulness that shows up in studies. The poorer a nation is, the more religious it is bound to be, and the more purposeful they often claim to be.⁹ Likewise, wealthier nations tend to be more secular and can score lower on overall purposefulness.⁵ This phenomenon is very complicated as there are a wide variety of subjective and objective experiences being cross-examined across cultures that perceive and define things differently. Researchers are attempting to untangle the ideas, and it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusions regarding their work at this time.

Victor Strecher, a purpose researcher and author, urges us to acknowledge that the presence or absence of religion does not determine a sense of purpose or the long term ethical value of a purpose. In his book, “Life on Purpose,” he explains that there are two approaches of relating purpose to God:

1. Reject social values (like the belief in God or religiously defined moral principles) and create your own purpose.
2. Reject social values (like materialism) and live God’s Purpose.

The first option is essentially rejecting God to create your own purpose (which he credits both Nietzsche and Hitler with doing) or taking a leap of faith by embracing God to find purpose (such as Kierkegaard, Clergy, monks, some therapists or social workers- even jihadist suicide bombers would qualify). Strecher asserts that there are plenty of remarkable (and dangerous) people in both categories. (See noble and ignoble Purpose).

Your upbringing in faith (or the absence of it) has most likely influenced how you understand purpose. Below are a few examples of what various religions have to say about purpose (mostly adapted from the Templeton Psychology of Purpose Paper). Can you find yourself in there?

*A note before reading: There is a great deal of subjectivity to the morality present in each religion’s idea of what is “God’s will.” Consider, for example, the common religious premise that it is important to make the world a better place. What a devout Muslim believes will make the world a better place may be different from what a staunch Atheist believes will do the same; while the Muslim may think the adoption of Islam by more people would benefit the world, Atheists may argue that the spread of religion is harmful. This idea gets explored more in “Morality” below.

Similarly, keep in mind that the views on purpose listed below are incredibly general and broad summaries– clearly lumping 6 billion people into a handful of groups is an impossible task. Each of these religions are divided into many unique subgroups with distinct flavors for each of these ideas!

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” -Rumi, Sufi poet

How do you know what is “good” or “right”? What is the right way to behave? What is good for the world?

Some people answer this question through the doctrines of their religion:

• “Spreading the word of God is good, the [insert name of religious text] explains this.”

Some answer this question through defining their values or exploring the philosophy of ethics or functional evolution:

• “I value kindness, which I believe looks like generosity, so being generous is moral and good.”
• “Evolution explains morality as prosocial behaviors that increased survival potential, so acts that support the well-being of others are right.”

What we believe is right or wrong affects our choices and behavior (sometimes in a limiting way). These beliefs are our ethics, or what we believe is moral. This section defines and explores the source of morality, as well as its relationship with purpose. It is intended to deepen understanding and offer background on the topic that can enhance your reflection process.

Knowing the source (and order) of our value systems and determining if they are authentically OUR values or someone else’s values we’ve adopted without conscious examination will help us define and cultivate a sense of purpose that is fulfilling for us personally. Otherwise, we could end up in our fifties feeling disappointed and confused as to why we aren’t fulfilled by how we’ve lived our lives. Religion and morality are essential sources to excavate for self-wisdom.

Professor Paul Froesee emphasizes the role of morality in how we define purpose in his book, “On Purpose.”  He offers that purpose gives our lives “moral significance,” and makes us virtuous. We pursue being virtuous because moral pleasure is long-lasting and deeper than other sources of pleasure.⁹

Human beings are born with an innate sense of morality that is nursed by our families and cultures.^{11, 12} While religion tends to define particular views of right and wrong behavior by influencing our interpretation and prioritization of different values, it is impossible to know if religion is the source of morality.¹³ Basic moral behavior may be a product of our social and biological evolution. In order to live together peacefully and prosperously, our ancestors needed to cooperate, and those who didn’t cooperate or consider others were less likely to pass their genes along.

When someone states that they believe rape is wrong purely because their religion states it, it is not exactly an example of morality; rather, it is religiosity. However, believing rape is wrong because you value freedom, have respect for sovereignty, and believe that harming others against their will is wrong would constitute a moral judgment. That moral judgment may happen to align with what your religion espouses.

While people may disagree on what specifically constitutes each behavior, society typically agrees about general moral behavior:

Considering that most people agree that the above lists are true, why is there so much debate as to right and wrong in the world? The answer may lie in the nuanced differences between cultures and how we define and prioritize our values.  An evangelical Christian would consider an abortion to be murder and thus immoral, but a more secularly leaning individual would consider the same act moral and humane towards the woman (and not murder). Similarly, the idea of “positive impact” is defined by the various moral codes of each culture. The variety of moral codes leave room for one person to believe something is good, while another views the same act as evil.

What would you add to these lists? Try making your own.

It’s important to note that all this advocating for nobility may be misleading for you; be careful not to read ‘noble’ as ‘epic’. A noble Purpose does not have to be epic or heroic, and such a purpose may be unreasonable for most of us. William Damon offers the following:

“Noble does not always mean ‘heroic,’ if we take ‘heroic’ to mean pursuing daring, life endangering adventures, like the mythical knights who fought dragons in days of yore. Noble purpose can mean this, and our history books are full of dramatic accounts of courageous acts that saved the day. But noble purpose also may be found in the day-to-day fabric of ordinary existence. A mother caring for her child, a teacher instructing students, a doctor healing patients, a citizen campaigning for a candidate for the sake of improving society—all are pursuing noble purposes. So, too, are the legions of people who dedicate time, care, effort, and worldly goods to charity, to their friends and family, to their communities, and to God.”¹⁶

As socially dependent beings, some of our morality is innate (keeping in mind, of course, the complexity and subjectivity of various moral dilemmas). It’s the nuance between cultures that can lead to much of the confusion. By exploring where and how we learned what constitutes good and worthy behavior (and their opposites) we can empower ourselves to cultivate purposes that are meaningful to us personally. By ensuring that the deeds involved in the pursuit of our purposes do not harm or take advantage of others, and that our purpose itself aims to impact the world positively, we can develop noble purposes.