Can morality be taught apart from religion, especially from the doctrine(s) of, say, Lutheranism or Catholicism or even just Christianity in general?

I'm thinking of the sex ed thread in which several posters claimed there can be no effective sex ed classes without moral teaching and others countered that morality doesn't belong in sex ed classes.

So. a second question follows -- can sex ed be effectively taught apart from morality?

Dark_crow

No happiness is the goal, not the means to the goal.

Wondergirl

I guess we agree.

Dark_crow

No we don’t, because good behavior does not necessitate happiness, it only makes it possible. I could save someone life and loose a foot in the process, that would not make me happy, and at the same time the person I saved may not be happy either.

Wondergirl

I never said it was the means.

Goal = End Result.

Wondergirl

So give an example or two.

I can't have good morals if I am not happy?

Choux

Helloooooooo,

There is a *gigantic moral code* in place in America other than any religious code.....they are the comprehensive system of LAWS concerning just about everything that causes damages to citizens. Damage other citizens...you go to jail!!

Losing the morality of religion in public life *has already happened*, and long ago. Replaced by the JUSTICE system.

Today, people are very interested in *personal ethics*...this is what my previous answer concerned. Personal Ethics. The quality of being a large cut above the average person....

Dark_crow

WG

I would agree with you had you said…Happiness is [sometimes or often] the end result of good behavior.

I suppose the misunderstanding was that I interpreted what you said as “Always,” the case.

Choux

Forgot, *parents* are supposed to teach sexual morality and proper enjoyment of sex. They do a terrible job here in America because the citizens in our country have been made sexually repressed and wierd about sex by RELIGION.....400 years of Christian sex education!!

nicespringgirl

You don't have to believe in GOD to have morals.

Buddhism and taoism have similar teaching about morals without believing in GOD.

Dark_crow

Choux, participation in Politics is a moral endeavor. Many would point to the Taliban in Afghanistan as an extreme example of this. And there have been some people who point out that the lack of virtue, due to the idea that there is no truth, no set virtues, has led to the lack of participation in America of almost half the population.