Do religious beliefs actually have any significant bearing on moral decision making?

[Darkstar]

Okay, I'll try it.

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Please - State your Gender
Male

The current educational level you are studying for or highest attained.
Not sure exactly what you mean, I am a college student.

Your religious beliefs(denomination of Christianity if applicable) / If not religious then whether atheist or agnostic
atheist

How strong you consider these beliefs from 1-9 (9 highest)
Do you mean 9=hard atheist or 9=hard theist?
I'll go with strong(ish) atheist[b]

Do your parents have any religious beliefs?
[b]Yes

To what extent do you think they influenced you morally? (1-9)
My parents or my old religion? 2 for religion, I'm not sure for parents

To what extent do you agree with the following statements from 1-9 (9 completely agree)

"Different types of morality cannot be compared as to 'rightness.'
[/b]Not sure what you mean[/b]

Rigidly codifying an ethical position that prevents certain types of actions could stand in the way of better human relations and adjustment.
8

Whether a lie is judged to be moral or immoral depends upon the circumstances surrounding the action.
9

No rule concerning lying can be formulated; whether a lie is permissible or not permissible totally depends upon the situation.
7

What is ethical varies from one situation and society to
another.
What is considered ethical yes, what is ethical: 3

If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be done.
6, I can think of situations even here where there could be an exception.

Deciding whether or not to perform an act by balancing the positive consequences of the act against the negative consequences of the act is immoral.
4, it depends on the situation. There are clear instances where utilitarianism fails.


Please answer yes or no to these situations.

1.You are standing on a bridge when an out-of-control mining cart comes into view. You can see 5 workers on the track who you suppose will be instantly killed unless you push a large rock off the bridge to stop the cart. However if you do this the cart driver will be killed. Do you push the rock?
Yes, not that I would probably even think of that, but in the hypothetical...

2.This time instead of a rock there is a large man you could push. He and the cart driver will die but 5 workers will survive. Do you push the man?
I probably wouldn't be able to do it
3. In a separate instance you can throw yourself in front of the cart, killing you and the cart driver but 5 workers will survive. Do you jump?
I wouldn't know unless I actually were in the situation

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[Kayenneh]

I read the rules and I haven't infringed any and it doesn't advise to ask permission of staff before posting research related material.

I call bullshit.

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I have been subject to several personal comments which as far as I can tell break the forum rules, as they have made me feel upset and unwelcome. Many of the complaints seem to relate to the fact that this is my first post. I don't think such a hierarchy is fair

It's unfortunate that you feel upset, but frankly, it's odd that the majority of new members popping up don't seem to have a problem with the welcoming party. Maybe it's not the older members' but your attitude that stinks?

[pathos]

I have been subject to several personal comments which as far as I can tell break the forum rules, as they have made me feel upset and unwelcome. Many of the complaints seem to relate to the fact that this is my first post. I don't think such a hierarchy is fair

No, none of the responses in this thread have broken forum rules as far as I can tell (I am a member of the AF.org staff).

I don't necessarily think that your first post violated any forum rules, however, it was a breach of etiquette. This is a discussion forum, and we are a community of sorts. Requests for participation in a survey are generally welcomed from members of our community, and from those outside the community that respect the community by asking staff if it's OK to post a survey. (I can't recall staff ever refusing a request from a student.)

Posting a student survey on your first post does not give the members of our community the feeling that you want to be part of it, or that you respect it.

As someone who has been bullied several times in my life and been part of a prominent anti-bullying campaign I would suggest you read up on the topic. Symptoms I have noticed in this thread are deconstructive criticsm, unfounded accusations and exclusion. Here are some examples

"How condescending of you and how out of touch from your original question you are. You are engaging people and how they think, stupid child. go back to your original classes and start again."

"No hunny you are a freshman starting his degree in Philosophy. The 1992 makes you roughly 21 years old and you are no more alpha than my left ankle. "

"The shame is on you student... Otherwise your research is flawed and incomplete and you will fail your assignment"

"Are you lazy?"

"No my dear...YOU are being lazy. get online and DO YOUR RESEARCH! IF that includes friends and family then so be it...do you know nothing? "

"Still doesn't detract from the freshman striving to be lazy though" (having just asked not to be referred to as freshman and making it clear I wasn't one. If this isn't a textbook example of bullying I don't know what is.)

It certainly would have been a community I would have been interested in participating in if hadn't been for the level of vitriol I have received. Whilst on the one hand I have had huge pointers given to me by well informed, generous individuals on the other hand I have been abused at every turn.
I attend a prominent University, despite the aspersions that have been cast over my academic ability, and have never encountered the condescending and belittling attitudes as I have in this community of faux-academia.

I would certainly hope that just because the regulators of a community accept comments that can clearly be classified as cyber-bullying and the group is accusing my attitude of lacking (I have asperger's so I apologise if my tone isn't correct) that I wouldn't join in to get an easy jibe.

I can assure you this will be the only thread I ever participate on in this forum. It has ruined my day and made me thoroughly miserable just to read through this thread and to reply to all these comments and reduced me to the point of tears. I have done the exact same with several other forums and got nothing but positive feedback so I can assure you it is the members of this community who take issue.

This sums up this forums backdated attitudes on bullying "Don't get all offended at people for putting you down, or this thread will just become one big whine from you about how mean we are around here... trust me, there's been enough of those."

I will end on this point. As people who clearly pride themselves as not being of a religious bent, what does it say that you unite around a common cause of belittling the person who didn't engage in the 'rite' of introducing himself and asking the correct group leaders for permission?

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student1992,

Why are you starting from scratch, particularly regarding The Trolley Problem? Read this:

http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/facult...ROLLEY.pdf

Now, if you understand this (or not) go to TPM Online (The Philosophers' Magazine). Towards the top, near the middle you will find links to Interactive Activities. The fourth down is titled "Should You Kill the Fat Man" and has 83,005 responses. Considering the above paper the next one down is titled "Should You Kill the Backpacker?".
http://www.philosophersnet.com/

In addition to scouring the internet for respondents, I would contact TPM to see if they would be willing to share results.

Thanks for the pointers, I will certainly be able to shoe-horn in some of this material.
I already have vast amounts of secondary data, my data collection on here is part of my attempts to fulfill the requirement that there must be some primary online data collection.

[Jackalope]

As someone who has been bullied several times in my life and been part of a prominent anti-bullying campaign I would suggest you read up on the topic.

I am intimately and personally familiar with the subject.

Symptoms I have noticed in this thread are deconstructive criticsm, unfounded accusations and exclusion. Here are some examples

"How condescending of you and how out of touch from your original question you are. You are engaging people and how they think, stupid child. go back to your original classes and start again."

"No hunny you are a freshman starting his degree in Philosophy. The 1992 makes you roughly 21 years old and you are no more alpha than my left ankle. "

"The shame is on you student... Otherwise your research is flawed and incomplete and you will fail your assignment"

"Are you lazy?"

"No my dear...YOU are being lazy. get online and DO YOUR RESEARCH! IF that includes friends and family then so be it...do you know nothing? "

"Still doesn't detract from the freshman striving to be lazy though" (having just asked not to be referred to as freshman and making it clear I wasn't one. If this isn't a textbook example of bullying I don't know what is.)

None of the above violate any rules that we have here.

This is a forum that values free expression. We don't generally censor opinions.

You might try developing thicker skin.

[Minimalist]

Of course they do....




How else do you think the world suffered through the Inquisition?

[pathos]

As someone who has been bullied several times in my life and been part of a prominent anti-bullying campaign I would suggest you read up on the topic.

I am intimately and personally familiar with the subject.

Symptoms I have noticed in this thread are deconstructive criticsm, unfounded accusations and exclusion. Here are some examples

"How condescending of you and how out of touch from your original question you are. You are engaging people and how they think, stupid child. go back to your original classes and start again."

"No hunny you are a freshman starting his degree in Philosophy. The 1992 makes you roughly 21 years old and you are no more alpha than my left ankle. "

"The shame is on you student... Otherwise your research is flawed and incomplete and you will fail your assignment"

"Are you lazy?"

"No my dear...YOU are being lazy. get online and DO YOUR RESEARCH! IF that includes friends and family then so be it...do you know nothing? "

"Still doesn't detract from the freshman striving to be lazy though" (having just asked not to be referred to as freshman and making it clear I wasn't one. If this isn't a textbook example of bullying I don't know what is.)

None of the above violate any rules that we have here.

This is a forum that values free expression. We don't generally censor opinions.

You might try developing thicker skin.

You haven't engaged with many of the points I made. I would find it hard to believe that someone who had an intimate relationship with bullying would suggest that "developing thicker skin" is a solution.
Calling someone a name such as "freshman" when they clearly have stated they aren't and there is no basis to believe that they are is clearly an attempt to demean. Whether your rules cover it or not it is cyber-bullying and has little to do with freedom of speech.
Finally do you not see the irony in saying this is a forum that encourages "free expression". I will again repeat my final point and you can make the connection to "free expression".
I will end on this point. As people who clearly pride themselves as not being of a religious bent, what does it say that you unite around a common cause of belittling the person who didn't engage in the 'rite' of introducing himself and asking the correct group leaders for permission?

[Jackalope]

You haven't engaged with many of the points I made.

I don't care to.

I would find it hard to believe that someone who had an intimate relationship with bullying would suggest that "developing thicker skin" is a solution.

I'm suggesting that you aren't being bullied HERE (despite your protestations), and that in the case of your interaction HERE that growing thicker skin would be a good idea, because people here aren't going to pull punches.

Calling someone a name such as "freshman" when they clearly have stated they aren't and there is no basis to believe that they are is clearly an attempt to demean. Whether your rules cover it or not it is cyber-bullying and has little to do with freedom of speech.

No it isn't, and yes it is.

Finally do you not see the irony in saying this is a forum that encourages "free expression". I will again repeat my final point and you can make the connection to "free expression".
I will end on this point. As people who clearly pride themselves as not being of a religious bent, what does it say that you unite around a common cause of belittling the person who didn't engage in the 'rite' of introducing himself and asking the correct group leaders for permission?

Tell that to the hundreds of currently active members who didn't "belittle" you. Common cause, my ass.

We do value free expression. We also recognize that there are limits - and because of being bombarded by spammers, people who want to use this site to promote their own, and people who are only interested in getting help with their homework, we limit what people who haven't established themselves as part of the community are able to do.

Sometimes members take things into their own hands. We prefer that they leave moderating to the moderators, but if someone expresses their displeasure at a first-post rules violation, there's not much (if anything) that's going to be done about it (other than a reminder to leave moderation to the moderators).

[festive1]

How can you research the effects of religion on morality, without considering the immoral acts perpetrated by religious organizations? You're only looking at a piece of the puzzle, not the entire picture.

[Kayenneh]

As someone who has been bullied several times in my life

That doesn't single you out. Many of us have.

I will end on this point. As people who clearly pride themselves as not being of a religious bent, what does it say that you unite around a common cause of belittling the person who didn't engage in the 'rite' of introducing himself and asking the correct group leaders for permission?

You came on this site, failed to follow one of the few rules we have, got butthurt when people pointed it out to you and asked you to introduce yourself.. Yeah, how rude of us!

[Tonus]

At worst, three or four people could be accused of something akin to not rolling out a red carpet and handing the OP a bouquet of roses, and that was enough to get a mod to ask folks to calm down. As many people went ahead and answered the OP. The forum start page indicates that 124 members have visited the site in the past 24 hours; I have no idea how many of those were in the ~9 or so hours since this topic was started, but it seems reasonable to assume at least a couple dozen.

I think it's a bit of an overreaction to compare it to bullying.