WHAT IS MORALITY?
People universally have the idea that some actions are “Right” and some actions are “Wrong”. Actions are “Good” or “Bad” or “Evil”. Some actions “Should” be done. Others “Should Not” be done.
Sometimes using these words, there is a specific purpose in mind. It is “Good” for a musician to practice. He “Should” practice. This is evaluated against the purpose to be a skilled and successful musician – to be a “Good” musician.
But also these words are used in an absolute or unqualified sense. They are used without any background purpose in mind. Murder is generally agreed to be “Bad” or “Evil” or “Wrong”. This does not mean “Bad” for someone who wants to be a skilled musician. This means just plain “Bad”. It is “Evil”. It “Should Not” be done.
The subject of what is “Good” or “Evil” or “Right” or “Wrong” is sometimes called “Ethics” and sometimes called “Morality”. Sometimes “Morality” and “Ethics” are distinguished. A set of rules can be drawn up. That is a “Moral Code”. Then the “Morality” of an action can be evaluated by comparing it to the “Moral Code”.
“Ethics” is a more reasoned and analytical approach to considering the “Goodness” or “Rightness” of an action. What are the consequences of this action? Are the consequences “Good” or “Bad”? To what degree is each of the various consequences “Good” or “Bad”? Each result of the action can be evaluated for the magnitude of its “Goodness” or “Badness”, and given a “score”, as if in points, for how “Good” or “Bad” it is. And then the scores for each result can be added up, giving an overall evaluation of the “Goodness” or “Badness” of the action being considered.
People can disagree very strongly about what actions are “Right” and “Good”, and what actions are “Wrong” and “Bad” and “Evil”. But everyone has convictions on this subject.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The most well known moral code in the world is the Biblical Ten Commandments. They are:
1. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet.
Western Civilization is very heavily based on Christianity. Western laws and traditions are very heavily based on the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments divide into two categories. #1 through #4 deal with God. #5 through #10 deal with other people. #1 through #4 can only make sense to a Christian or to a Jew. #5 through #10 are excellent rules for any individual and for any civilization.
THE DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY
Five hundred and a thousand years ago, Christianity was enormously more powerful in the world than it is now. People really believed the various doctrines about Heaven and Hell and sin and faith and salvation. Different groups of Christians would go to war with other groups of Christians, really believing that their souls and the souls of the enemy and their future lives in Heaven or Hell were hanging in the balance and depended on the outcome of the war. Sometimes they burned heretics, believing that the heretic was leading people into Hell. In 1633 Galileo was condemned by the Christian church for looking through his telescope at the moons of Jupiter. These actions still serve to discredit Christianity.
Then came the great Isaac Newton and his Laws of Motion and his Law of Gravity. Then came the fantastic advance of science and technology. And the Industrial Revolution.
People were very impressed. The power of Christianity declined very greatly. A lot of people still go to church, but how much they actually believe is debatable. Many people became materialists – believing only in matter. They do not believe in Christianity, or that there is a God, or that there is a “soul”.
The authority of the Ten Commandments is that they are God’s commandments. But God, for many people, has been thrown out. So along with God, the Ten Commandments also get thrown out.
Also, #1 through #4 are particularly not believable to the materialist. So he very emphatically throws out #1 through #4. So #5 through #10 are discredited and get thrown out as well.
The Puritans were gung-ho Christians who were really trying hard to follow God’s commandments. But the Puritans generally thought that anything that was fun was “sinful”. So they got a very bad reputation. This also tends to discredit Christian “morality” and anyone who takes it seriously.
MORALITY IS OBSOLETE
The triumph of science and materialism in Western Civilization has to a large degree resulted in a morality-free void, an ethical vacuum. Morality is obsolete. Ideas of “Right” and “Wrong” have been discarded and abandoned, except as a pretense needed to stay out of trouble.
God and His so-called “commandments” are superstitious nonsense. There is no life after death. I have no future life after my death in this lifetime. There will be no consequences to me after this lifetime for anything I do. Civilization can collapse, but it means nothing to me, because I won’t be here. I can do anything I want. If the law doesn’t catch me in this lifetime, no one will ever catch me and there will be no consequences. I might as well have a good time.
The materialistic world view not only does not recognize any God or gods, it also fails to recognize oneself as a spiritual being. Existence consists of atoms and molecules distributed in space and time, moving according to the laws of physics. Morality is a concept which simply does not apply.
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