Hypolita Usher 

University of Belize 

8th March, 2018 

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There has been considerable debate surrounding the link between religion and 

morality. Since time immemorial, everyone from Plato to Kant has pondered the 

question of whether one can exist without the other. While there is a large section of 

the population that would argue against an inherent link between religion and 

morality; the idea that there is no morality without religion is accepted 

unquestionably by many, and any suggestion otherwise would be considered 

borderline blasphemous in some circles. In many instances moral opinions are 

informed by religious standards. Even the secular world is influenced by religious 

moral teachings and will often defer to religion in morally controversial matters. Still, 

there are obvious weaknesses with the argument that morality is tethered to religion. 

The most obvious flaw is perhaps the fact that for centuries organized religion has 

been used to justify many heinous acts and institutions.  

The film “​The Magdalene Sister​” presents an apt example of how organized 

religion challenges the idea that religion and morality are inviolably connected. The 

women in the film, which was inspired by true events, are unfairly institutionalised 

and forced to work under oppressive conditions with catholic nuns acting as their de 

facto jailers. They suffer strict draconian punishments for the slightest perceived 

infractions; there are many instances of young women being whipped severely simply 

for speaking out of turn. Emotional abuse also abounds; there is a scene where the 

nuns have the girls stand naked to face ridicule about their bodies ​(Mullan, 2002)​. The 

nuns used religion to justify the many monstrous acts they committed. They used 

religion to instill fear, guilt, and shame and breakdown the young women; all while 
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claiming that it was for the their own benefit and protection. They essentially forced 

the women into brutal work to earn their salvation.  

The film highlights the Catholic Church’s unfair treatment of young women and 

presents a strong counter argument to the idea that religion is a precondition for 

morality. The cruelty of the nuns were obviously immoral and yet religion was the 

primary justification for their actions. If religion could be used to uphold a system so 

patently oppressive then the link between religion and morality must indeed be very 

tenuous. Still, there are arguments to be made in favour of a positive link between 

religion and morality. Although the nuns used their religion to justify their actions, 

any casual observer would agree that their actions were very unchristian. The nuns, 

and by extension the Catholic Church, may have imagined themselves as serving God 

but their actions were completely antithetical to the tenets of the faith in whose name 

they claimed to act. Jesus was forgiving of women like those unjustly incarcerated. The 

very woman after which the institution was named is a testament to how 

contradictory the nuns actions were to Christianity.   

The Catholic Church has always taken on the role of moral guardian of young 

women and as illustrated in “​The Magdalene Sisters​”, this often results in severe 

gender biases. The women in the film are made to pay for the sins of the men who 

wrong them. A rape victim is incarcerated and expected to work off her sins although 

in reality a sin was committed against her. Similarly when it is discovered that the 

priest is engaging in sexual acts with a mentally disabled detainee, it is the mentally 

disabled woman who must suffer the consequences for his wrongdoing. The fact that 
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many of the incarcerated women are sent to the institution for having children out of 

wedlock is another way in which the moral codes allow for gender discrimination. The 

young mothers are cast out of society while the fathers are allowed to continue on with 

life as usual.  

The nuns acting as agents of the Catholic Church, violated many of the women’s 

fundamental human rights such as their right to freedom. These rights are supposed to 

be inalienable and bestowed upon them by virtue of being human. Natural Law 

suggests that certain universal standards in morality and ethics are discoverable by 

all human beings. The Theory holds that certain moral laws are universal and as such 

they transcend time, culture, and government. These universal moral standards form 

the basis of a just society ​(Finnis, 2015)​. The interrelationship between Natural Law 

and human rights is unmistakable. Natural Law forms the basis for every human 

rights convention and agreement currently in existence. The doctrine of Natural Law 

presupposes the existence of certain universal human rights.  

According to Divine Command Theory (DCT) morality is dependent on God; i.e. 

an action is moral if God commands it, and immoral if God forbids it. The fundamental 

tenets of human rights also suggests that our human rights are bestowed by God 

(Moeckli, Shah, Sivakumaran & Harris, 2010)​. In “​The Magdalene Sisters​” the basic 

human rights of the incarcerated young women are routinely ignored. As a religious 

sect the nuns no doubt subscribe to DCT, in fact they justify their cruelty because of the 

women’s so called immorality which is incongruous with the divine commands of God. 

Yet the cruelty displayed by the nuns is also incompatible with the divine teachings 
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and thus immoral. This raises the question of whether or not the immoral actions of 

the young women, relieve the nuns of their own duty to act morally. If human rights 

are bestowed by God then the answer would have to be no. DCT defines and justifies 

rights by reference to God’s will and our duty to obey it, thus any act which denies an 

individual their God given right would be discordant with God’s commands.  

Conclusion 

Religious leaders and believers are expected to have high moral standards and follow 

strict moral codes but as the film “the Magdalene Sisters” illustrates, there are times 

when these moral standards are distorted and misused. The relationship between 

religion and morality is indeed complicated but it is undeniable. Religion informs 

morality and vice versa. What is true however, is that while the two are certainly 

connected they can also exist independently. There are certain moral standards that 

hold true regardless of religion and as illustrated by the film, there are instances 

where religion seems to lose its morality.  

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References 
Finnis, J. (2015). Grounding Human Rights in Natural Law. ​The American Journal Of 
Jurisprudence​, ​60​(2), 199-225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajj/auv013 

Moeckli, D., Shah, S., Sivakumaran, S., & Harris, D. (2010). ​International human rights law 
(1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Mullan, P. (2002). ​The Magdalene Sisters​. Ireland: Miramax.