THE DANCE BETWEEN SACRED INCONSISTENCIES AND PROFANE CONSISTENCIES

Abstract

Religion and ethics are intrinsically interconnected. The essence of religion is compromised in the absence of ethics, and without a religious foundation, ethics becomes susceptible to destructive tendencies, partisanship, bias and arbitrariness. Similar to how agricultural crops thrive in open fields and trees flourish in designated spaces, religious belief and ethical values flourish within the parameters of human societies. Away from societies, ethics may lose its role as the custodian of moral norms, and religion, built upon the bonds of relationships, could potentially lose its significance. The current issue of the Journal of Dharma delves into a herculean task of analyzing the ethical interface of religious societies primarily due to the ambiguity surrounding the notion ‘religious society’. Some scholars view all religions as societies, while others perceive sects within established religions or associations operating in tandem with religions as societies. Further, scholars occasionally encounter difficulty in distinguishing between systems and structures within a religious framework, causing confusion regarding the inherent connection between moral and spiritual dimensions. In our research, the term is employed in a broadly inclusive manner, encompassing all societies dedicated to promoting religious doctrines, morals, and principles as well as those actively striving to foster harmony and interconnectedness among the realms of God-Humans-Nature.