Thursday 13 January 2011

So What is core morality?

An email regarding yesterday's posts (seems many find the response system a bit flawed and clumsy) asked whether we could really consider there to be a 'core morality', even for Christians. I think there is and it would appear that if we look at the various offerings regarding human rights and the expectations contained within them, so do others.

The problem of morality is that because one of the parameters which shapes a public morality is the culture itself. This means that what might have been disapproved of, or left unspoken at another time, can suddenly become public and obvious. It appears that there is a Rake's progress which sees what is good in society eroded and that which was abhorred taken up and even approved of. This might be expected in a purely social setting but one would hope that within a religious setting this might not be the case, after all, constancy of belief and rule was one of the big selling points when discussing conversion to Islam. It appears that the Christian faith might be less constant and secure in its tenets than some of the other faiths in the market!

One of my clergy colleagues pointed out that morality means many things to many people, a very true statement. The problem with morality now is that I am seeing it shaped locally by a form of 'natural justice' whereby stealing, retribution and revenge (to name but a few features) are now considered to be fair game. If someone is considered to be a 'not nice' person, then whatever they get is merely what they deserve and all is well.

My core morality begins with the ten commandments - after all, keeping them is the start of a secure and consistent lifestyle (isn't it?). Now I know some may have problems with the One God bit but the rules about possessions that possess and using God's name as a swear word (in fact using any swear word can sit here) would make life a lot more comfortable, pleasant and free from all that credit stress too!

Looking after oneself should be a factor and therefore I will leave the Sabbath bit in (you can just call it a day off!).

Then we come to some of the big issues: Don't murder! Simple and good advice for everyone, we all live longer that way! Stick to your own partner, be faithful and work at the relationship (and the kids that come from it) and society (which is already living longer) is healthy and balanced.

Not stealing and not lying would see us with a society where you really could leave you front door unlocked at night (that's a myth by the way, there was more murder in the thirties and forties that there is today!) and if people didn't tell lies, about others or themselves, we'd see no need to murder, no way unfaithfulness could be nurtured as a continuing thing (there would still be blips I'm sure) and relationships would be much better (for not lying would not be like the sadly flawed film 'Invention of Lying').

There are core moral issues and we as Christians need to embrace them and demonstrate them to the flawed and fallen world in which we find ourselves.

Pax

2 comments:

John Thomas said...

"...there was more murder in the thirties and forties than there is today" Oh really? There may indeed have been - but I think with this kind of statistic it is always necessary to examine it, and find out Who sez?, and what their motivation may be, what ideology are they fostering; and if possibly the definitions (in this case, of "murder") are a bit different now, compared with then.

Vic Van Den Bergh said...

Hi John,

Thanks for the comment about the murder issue.

The source of the information was a BBC R4 interview with a criminologist who'd done his doctoral work on the area of crime during the forties and sixties (working for the Met Police) who spoke of the incidence of murder and violent crime and how it was greater in the forties and fifties than it was fifty years later.

I found the fact that during the war years assault and murder appeared to have been covered up by judicious use of bombed out buildings quite surprising. After all, we hear so much about the old day when you could leave your doors unlocked!

He put that down to the fact that everything that happened in a street was seen by many twitching cutrain rather than a safer community (but surely I think to myself this meant it was safer!!).

That the person was analysing numbers and typoes of case and spoke without really having a point made him more attractive because often the spin, or manipulation towards a pre-estimated outcome, is the driver for such stuff.

Hope this is of use. Thanks again,

Vic