issues of morality

Sorry for the weeklong absence. I had a houseful of people for Labor Day weekend, and my daughter's birthday was yesterday. I'm back to what I hope is a regular routine of writing. Tonight I touch on the issue of morality as it has come up in the last week.

I held a class discussion with my Modern American Literature course last week regarding a Mark Twain essay in which Twain criticizes humankind for their evil behavior by comparing them unfavorably to the actions of other animals. The class is comprised of juniors and seniors, and they are often eager to be honest. The conversation was one about morality and the inherent goodness of people. I heard several interesting statements.

Perhaps one of the most common and surprising things I heard from these students is that they routinely do things they know are morally wrong. They admitted to commonly going against their morals in order to gain personally. Many even said there is a certain emotional rush or “high” from doing something wrong and getting away with it.

Their end conclusion from the discussion is that humans are selfish and greedy. They weren’t, however, ready to say that those two qualities were evil. Many felt very comfortable stating that the only responsibility anyone has is to themselves.

Today I had a colleague suggest that I take a sick day to do something I wanted to do that I couldn't get approval for from my bosses. I replied that morally I couldn't tell my daughter that lying is wrong if I was willing to engage in the behavior myself. She felt that while lying is usually wrong, in this case, the ends justified the means. If my bosses were going to be irrational, I had a right to do as I pleased. She also suggested that a lot of people are doing far worse things in the world.

In both of these scenarios, the only driving factor when individuals make "moral" choices seems to be self-interest. Right and wrong fits neatly around personal desires. Tonight, President Obama referred to his health care reform as a "moral" issue. I fear, if he's the same as the rest of us, that simply means it's an issue in which he seeking his own personal or political gain. Just as Republicans have for so many years by claiming to have a monolopy on issues of "morality."

All of this leads me to a greater faith in a Christian worldview. Man is by nature evil. The only redemption that can occur is through a Savior. And through Christ we not only gain salvation, but we also gain the ability to care more about seeking truth and purity in morality than we do in self-preservation.

To the best of my understanding, the explanation for the existence of a concience and the idea of morality from those who believe there is no God is that it evolved as a way of furthering the species. My problem with that is I just don't see a great desire in most humans to further the species - I see a great desire to further personal comfort. Right and wrong is arbitrary based on what an individual wants, not on how to better mankind.

A final word on morality from my reading tonight. King David is a man put on a pedestal in most Christian circles. David, however, had one major selfish, immoral act recorded in Scripture. David had a man killed because he wanted to get with his wife. Then he got called out on it. The prophet Nathan informed him that despite his best efforts to hide this black deed, God had seen it. Most of us, when called out about a wrongdoing, have a quick response of defensiveness or excuses. David did not. David wrote:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to you."

He didn't say: "Others have done worse. I'm a good person. I'll be forgiven." He said, "I need you to fix this dirt in my sinful nature. And while you're at it, God, use this ugly sin to convert other sinners like myself to you, my source of joy."

I have many black deeds on my own record. I pray for all of us the purity and strength David requested.