Humanity's Natural Morality

The ideals of Love, Truth, Freedom and Wisdom are actually inborn to human minds. We do not have the articulated principles, which must be taught by culture, but the inclinations and tendencies exist from the time of our infancy. It is the task of parents, teachers, preachers and writers to help us grow into their full potential. And their success enhances our own maturity and that of our civilization as a whole.

Love
• Care vs Harm (helpless)
   - nurture, guide & support
• Compassion vs Cruelty (broken)
   - rescue, heal & release
• Gratitude vs Contempt (friend)
   - reciprocate, help & propagate
* Welcome vs Hostility (stranger)
   - respect, share & invite

Truth
• Trust vs Deception (knowledge)
   - honest, useful & unbiased
• Loyalty vs Betrayal (perspective)
   - tribalism, teamwork & aims
• Authority vs Anarchy (utopia)
   - teachers, traditions & ideals
* Investigation vs Mythos (nature)
   - observation, factual & testable

Freedom
• Fairness vs Cheating (family)
   - sharing, deserving & need
• Equality vs Privilege (society)
   - rights, opportunity & merit
• Liberty vs Oppression (government)
   - reactance, unity & resistance
* Thought vs Indoctrination (mind)
   - reason, understanding & ideas

Wisdom
• Holiness vs Defilement (personal)
   - cleanliness, diet & speech
• Prudence vs Disregard (destiny)
   - consider, prepare & navigate
* Moderation vs Perturbment (culture)
   - forethought, reason & harmony
• Sacredness vs Destruction (respect)
   - protect, restore & preserve

1). All of our morality is based on these basic principles, even our religions. But even so, morality evolves and improves. It doesn't go backwards. The development of society from its primal roots to towns, then states, and eventually to civilised empires necessitated the growth of moral attitudes, as it became more inclusive. Our responsibilities grow ever wider as we encounter people from around the world, and must treat them as we wish to be treated.

Our earliest law codes were devised to keep the peace in society. Many of the issues they had to deal with are still relevant today. They had laws against theft, and so do we. We have learned that it is not conducive to peaceful interactions to harbor jealousies in our hearts regarding the possessions or relationships belonging to others. We also know that a promise to be faithful to our spouses in marriage is meant to help us to grow in love and trust, and to provide a safe and stable environment for our children. Breaking that trust can only cause harm. And there is no doubt that peace and justice can only be served when witnesses tell the truth to the best of their ability when questioned in a court of law. And more recently, we have recalled the natural concern for the welfare of animals, that they should not be abused or treated callously. We also know that a customer has the right to expect reasonable value and consideration when making an economic transaction, and that anything less is simply cheating. Failure to live up to these codes and standards is a sure path for society to devolve into chaos.

Furthermore, the world cannot support hostile prejudices or ideologies bent on conquest. Rather, we must have tolerance and cooperation if we are going to face the challenges before us, and survive to achieve our dreams. Good moral standards guide our responses toward the acceptance of our neighbors as friends, and to eventually be treated as extended family. We then understand that friction is inevitable but does not need to lead to conflict, and that will allow us to seek reconciliation.

2). Nowhere is there any moral authority for violence, although it is allowed in defense of one's self or of those who are unable to make defense. Violence that leads to physical harm, or the death of another, cannot be justified outside of defensive situations, and still demands a full explanation even then. However, there is support for nonviolence and noncooperative interference with the status quo, gradually increasing the pressure to recognize and solve the problems that are causing the discontent.

Civil disobedience is not a crime. It is a patriotic act in defense of the state, reasserting the morality and well-being which it is supposed to protect. If the state has enacted laws contrary to righteousness, it is the responsibility of its citizens to speak up and seek redress, and to change the law. Being jailed for civil disobedience is an opportunity for discussion about the future of civil society, particularly any effective improvements as may be agreed upon, so as to avoid oppression and further discord.

3). Governments must also learn to behave in a moral fashion. They are not above the law. Even if they are the source of legislation, that is only culture, not divinity. As always, the "golden rule" applies. Individual states must treat each other as neighbors, since we all live on a single small planet. Nations do not exist as islands, but as members of a global society.

We do not have the right to impose our own culture or laws on other nations, any more than we have the right to invade their territory. But neither do we have any obligation to allow others to impose their ways upon us. "Love your enemies" has never been a viable immigration policy, as it invites conflict and civil war. Until such time as the world has a lasting peace, we shall all have to remember how to "walk softly, and carry a big stick." But at the same time "speak clearly, and don't swing the stick." No one can be expected to "turn the other cheek." That is for saints, not for politics.

4). Punishment for crimes should be compassionately measured out through education, psychological treatment and reorientation (that is "non-violent respectful coercion"). And yet, true justice is not only about prevention and punishment. It must include healing, reparations and restoration of community.

Paying a fine to the government is not justice; it does nothing to rehabilitate the offender's moral character, nor does it help to compensate the victim. It is nothing but a tax imposed to pay for the police to reestablish order and control.

Equally, the imprisonment of " bad" criminals only emphasizes the rupture of community. It fails to try to repair and strengthen the offender's moral character. To corral prisoners together only causes a net experience of evil, compounding inappropriate response patterns. If the only way to repair a broken morality is via "brainwashing" and therapeutic intervention, then such actions would be justified, with the long-term expectation of eventual reintegration into productive civil society. The aim is penitence and reform, not disposal.

Prisons are only a temporary expedient, a brief holding pattern awaiting adequate treatment, and should not be harsh in either circumstances or interactions. Criminals are there to be "helped" to  regain their moral humanity, and eventually their civil rights, and these changes in expectations should work toward an amelioration of antagonisms throughout the justice system.

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I would like to reference an important book which put me on the track to develop these ideas more fully:

The Righteous Mind
- Why good people are divided by politics and religion
by Jonathan Haidt
Vintage Books, New York, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-307-45577-2

This book can fill out ideas I have skimmed over lightly, and point in the direction I have gone further.

Thanks, Jonathan.

The Meaning of Human Existence

The Meaning of Human Existence:

There are many kinds of meaning that we can
 know in our lives. To be human is to seek to
overcome futility and rise above the ordinary
daily round of maintenance and reproduction
 of culture and children. We want to know that
there was a reason for our own life as an
individual, that we are part of a greater plan.
Although this may not be obvious for each of
us, it may be enough to consider that we can
contribute through strength of numbers,
supporting the things we believe in. And then
we can keep our eyes open for any opportun-
ities to make our mark as an individual. These
are a few of the ways to be ourselves in this world.
The experience of being a singular point of human
consciousness, seeking to live our lives to the
fullest, doing and being, going to and seeing new
places, caring and sharing, learning all we can of
the universe - these are all important because they
are our connection to God and the universe as it
becomes aware of itself.

1. Exploration - to satisfy our curiosity by going
places and doing things that expand our horizons
and future possibilities.

2. Intelligence - by careful scientific investigation
to discover how things work, or how people can
devise ways to accomplish our dreams and hopes.

3. Knowledge - the more we learn and understand
about our world and combine our theories, then
the better we can know the greater cosmos and
our place in it.

4. Communication - to publish or teach what we
have learned, or that we feel is important to
inform others, so that their lives may be improved
or yield more satisfaction.

5. Cooperation - working together with others as
a team to accomplish tasks that are too large for
one person, hopefully to enhance our collective
experience.

6. Excellence - to learn and continually practice a
skill so that we may become not merely proficient,
but expert, or even master its intricate details, so
that our work may be desirable as well as highly
functional.

7. Creativity - to be able to bring new designs or
ideas, or innovative combinations, with new kinds
of applications, or to promote novel perspectives -
perhaps to encourage new appreciation of older but
still valuable artifacts, methods or ideas.

8. Purpose - to pursue and learn and work to develop
an idea or project which we hope may enhance our
lives, or offer aid or restoration to some who struggle
to survive, and thereby enhance our understanding
of what it means to be human.

Then there is a gray area between doing some-
thing meaningful and doing something important,
and for most of us the latter may be enough to
allow for happiness. The trouble with being
 human is that we don't want to think of our
lives as being pointless or trivial. We need to
devote ourselves to something larger, to try in
some way, however small, to promote the devel-
opment of the world toward a future we can
believe in. We want something grand to direct
our aim, so that if we fail we can still say it was
worth the effort, and success may bring
satisfaction.


What is important in life?

1) to create real value, for improving someone's
 life or reaching toward a goal.

2) to do something extraordinary, or to perform
with excellence.

3) to discover a better idea, or to develop new
thoughts and knowledge.

4) to reveal, encourage and train another's
potential.


As you can see, the possibilities are endless,
challenging us to strive, and to develop our
best skills and virtues. We need to be proud
of ourselves, and to believe that whatever
"Higher Power" may exist, It too may approve.

The Eight-fold Path of God Seeking Us: "ren-li-jiao"

The Eight-fold Path of God Seeking Us: "ren-li-jiao"
A compilation of the teachings of the eight most important religions around the world. A teaching in which all of us can find something that speaks to our hearts.

What must we do?
1. Repent of our immorality. (Judaism)
2. Submit to His Care. (Islam)
3. Love one another. (Christianity)
4. Trust His Compassion. (Buddhism)
5. Stop fighting His Will. (Taoism)
6. Seek ways to help. (Confucianism)
7. Ask for strength. (Yoruba)
8. Desire eternal life. (Hindu)

What will God do for us?
1. Guide us in righteousness.
2. Provide for our needs.
3. Share companionship.
4. Lessen our suffering.
5. Teach us peace of mind.
6. Lead us to meaningful work.
7. Give us power to succeed.
8. Fulfill our dreams.

Not all people are alike. We feel the brokenness of the world in different ways. That is why there are many different paths to God. We try to legislate proper behavior, but that is the way of restrictions. Principals of morality are more flexible, and can be remembered in the heart.

God does not have the same plans for all of us. He made us each as an individual, with a unique destiny, and a special part to play in society and in creation. But we have the freedom to refuse, and often do so, though not always by intent. We can make bad choices.

Because we can not grow in this world with an umbilical connection to the source of Being, we struggle to discover how to survive. We must grow up to find our place in the Cosmos that God has created for us. Growing up is to learn how to be human, how to be more like God than an animal.

We are created in His image, and it is his plan to adopt us as his own children. Once we learn how to live together, we will be welcomed into the heavenly homes he has created for us.

The heavens are almost within reach, waiting for us to come and build them the way we want them. They can be a Paradise for us, and we can rebuild the Eden we have almost destroyed. Indeed, we have knocked, and found the door open. We need only to seek his Presence, and ask for his help.

And how should we do this? By practicing ren-li-jiao, the way of human-heartedness and proper behavior. "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." Follow proper morality by seeking Truth, Freedom, Love and Wisdom. Above all, choose life - live, and let live. Value all life, and be merciful to the weak, poor and young. Even the atheist can do as much.