Moral Perseverance

By Scott Berman · Jul 22, 2012 · 1.7K · 2
  1. Well, I'm about 1/4 of the way through the first draft of my short story, its going along just fine and I'm enjoying it. It'll still be awhile before I'm ready to post it here though. So, I figured I'll discuss something new today.

    Every night, in my attempts to lose weight, I like to go for a 3 mile walk. This is great for me as an aspiring writer as it gives me a chance to think and come up with ideas for what to write about, it also just allows me to come up with some strange ideas and questions to ponder. The short story that I'm working on is actually based on one of these ideas that I think we've all thought about at certain points in our lives.

    I consider myself a decently moral person, I don't go around sleeping with any woman I can, I've never stolen anything and I hate hurting people. So not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty sure I'm a good person. Yet, I can't help but wonder if I really am moral on the inside, or if its just situational morality. I mean, perhaps the only reason I'm "moral" is because its the easy route. Maybe I don't steal because from a cost-benefit analysis I'm more scared of getting in trouble than whatever the potential stolen item is worth to me. Maybe I don't sleep around because I'm not attractive enough to pick up tons of women. I can tell you that to an extent these are true, I don't want to get arrested and I'm not very good with women. I actually admit that the only reason I follow laws are out of a fear of consequence, but this is due to me being an anarchist. I don't acknowledge state laws as having any authority over me, they have force and that is it. So the question of whether or not I'm a moral person is difficult.

    I think that the only way to tell if someone is moral is to put them in a situation that truly tests their morals. If you tell someone, "There's a thousand dollars sitting in that open register, and nobody will ever know if you take it," will they take it? Yes, we have those guys that give a cashier money back if they give them the wrong change, but that's nothing, 10 or 15 dollars. What if we put them in a situation where they could truly gain a lot from going against their morals, without suffering any consequences? I like to think that I would rise above the temptation and not do it, but if the reward is great enough I can't deny that I might give in.

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  1. Mckk
    Well, to call yourself "moral" you first need a standard to compare yourself. But the truth is, if you compare yourself to just about anyone else on this planet, unfortunately none of us are truly better or worse than each other. No, you need a set standard - not a subjective standard that changes depending on who you compare yourself to. Sure, you've never murdered, but you've yelled at your mum before. Sure, you don't sleep around, but have you ever broken someone's trust, talked behind their back, slandered them in the heat of the moment? We like to call ourselves clean, but comparing grey to black doesn't make us clean - sure, better than black - but it only means anything when you compare yourself to white - then you will know how truly "moral" you are. And which of us is so clean and pure that we could call ourselves the standard that everyone should use to compare themselves? There is only God. Purity is God's alone.

    But that's why there is grace, and by grace there is forgiveness - and we all need forgiveness because on our own, if we're honest about ourselves, none of us are moral. Not really. Not compared to holiness.
    Mckk, Jul 25, 2012
  2. Scott Berman
    (This isn't an argument against you, more just an explanation of my own beliefs on morality. While I may disagree, I completely respect your beliefs.)

    It sounds as if your saying that the only to be moral is to be completely on the white side of the scale. This is a very black and white way to view it. I would agree with you that comparing ourselves to others is ineffective, as a matter of fact couldn't it be considered immoral in that we are sitting in judgement of others?

    The issue is of subjective standards rests on whether a person believes that morals are divinely ordained, as you and I likely believe, and in which case moral standards are an absolute and objective truth, or if the person believes that they are set by society in which case they would be viewed as subjective to the culture, beliefs and needs of the society they come from.

    Now, lets take it from the religious, objective standpoint because that is the one that your opinion seem based upon. Of course we will have some disagreement over some of the basics no matter what, as I can tell that you're most likely Christian from your usage of the term "grace", something my own religion, Judaism, does not have. I agree, none of us are clean or pure, "he who has not sinned throw the first stone", right? Does that mean that we can't be moral. Does impure truly mean we can't be moral? In which case, are we all evil immoral beings? Why even try if we can not reach some level of morality?

    I believe that being moral means trying one's best to live a life according to the morals they believe in. We will fail at times, but if we get up and try to fix ourselves and try out our best than we can be considered moral. I don't think moral and immoral stand on two edges of a cliff with a great wide abyss between them, rather its a ladder that we climb from living immorally to living morally, and we're constantly going up and constantly sliding down, but sometimes even sliding down will help us get a better foothold so we can climb higher than before.

    As for forgiveness, being that I don't believe that Jesus died for my sins, I believe that if I try my best to live morally and acknowledge my mistakes with an honest desire to be better than I will receive forgiveness.
    Scott Berman, Jul 25, 2012
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