How Does Religion Influence Moral Development

Moral Development involves a system of values to base decision regarding right or wrong or good or bad. The study deals with the influence of religion on a child’s development. Does religion affect the way they think? Does religion make children resilient? How does religion affect father/ mother to son/daughter relationship? This study attempt to broaden the idea of the influences of religion to a child’s moral development. Different children were raised in different ways, some are brought in religious households, but some were not. With this idea, the researcher attempts to differentiate or identify the differences of living in a religious household compared to not. Will it be better for the moral development of a child to live in a religious

At the Pre-Conventional level, children are interested in obtaining their own benefits, the first stage is Obedience and Punishment Orientation. In this stage, punishment is used so that the person refrains from doing the action and continues to obey the rules. The second stage is Self-Interest, at this stage, it states that a person’s morality is judged based on how it satisfies the individual needs of the doer.

The second level in Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development is the Conventional Morality, in these level children start to learn about the rules and authority and obey them. The first stage is Conformity and Interpersonal Accord, at this stage it states that children are interested in pleasing others and maintain friendly relations with the others. For example, a child gives her lunch to a street person. The second stage, Authority, and Social Order, which states that children believe that morality is what keeps the social order

According to the so-called sanctification theory, religion influences familial relationship with sacred significance, and religious institution attach moral meaning to a certain behavior. Religious parents might strive to raise their kids with self-control and manners while religious kids see that having good behavior is a morally good and strive to please themselves, parents, and God. John Bartkowski, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, wonders whether church attendance leads to a good behavior or the vice versa. Bartkowski told Mark Stern that kids who are already well behaved are the ones who can get into religious communities. He also said, “Their parents might feel they’ll fit in because they’re compliant and able to sit still.” Self-control, in other words, might lead to church service, and not vice