Morality -- a moving target? Living by a code is never easy

The

world is awash with stories of human frailty and apparent duplicity.

Politicians have been the most visible, but moral lapses seep through

all the layers of society, from the movie star to the piano mover. And

as social morals change, it becomes more difficult to agree not only on

sanctions for misdeeds but on what actually constitutes misbehavior.

This April, a beauty pageant contestant stood on a national stage

and declared as a result of her Christian upbringing, she believed

marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Later, that same contestant was found to have appeared in seminude

photographs. The revelation stirred outcry that she was a moral

hypocrite.

Was the contestant guilty of hypocrisy? Were her actions morally wrong?

From a religious perspective, there is no universal answer to that

question. Conversations with clergy and researchers show the definition

of morality varies greatly from faith to faith and is often dependant

on individual interpretations.

There are even strong differences of opinion within religions

themselves, said Brian D. Birch, director of the Religious Studies

Program at Utah Valley University.

"Depending on their theology and how they are structured, religions

differ as to how they address controversial social issues," he wrote in

an e-mail interview. "These issues will often lurk just beneath the

surface of polite discourse within a faith community and then flair up

from time to time when it is forced out into the open."