Is ethical conduct above religion or religion above ethical conduct

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Apr 16, 2015 at 13:58

Dear Dr Pipes,

Ethical conduct can be defined as the conduct that follows the golden rule: treat others the way you want to be the treated. The purpose of every religion is (or should be) to empower mankind to follow this simple rule (and, hopefully, this rule is not against any will of God). All religious doctrines must be evaluated in the light of this simple description. Is ethical behavior more important than your religion or your religion more important than ethical behavior. Let us answer this question in the context of all religions of the world.

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