On Morality

What part of myself makes me wake up every day, attend to my hygiene, eat breakfast and head out to catch my bus to work? Over 99.9% of the world shares this trait with me; who want to survive and provide for the people they care about and continue doing the same every day. This is including a minority of sociopaths who can go out of their way to hurt others indirectly in order to further themselves. A notable mention of this phenomenon for myself was in May 2020, when the country locked down and mass hysteria filled the news and streets. I was lucky to live with three other people with whom I shared this conundrum. Every day was somehow a positive start for us who came together to do basic tasks like figuring out where to get groceries from and praying for when will the alcohol shops open again.

The Haywain by Hieronymous Bosch c. 1490-9
Bosch, inspired from religious teaching, would paint scenes of people rejoicing in heaven, living on earth and suffering in hell. These were meant to be statement pieces and stood as visualisations of what the church talked about. 

 

A biological wiring in my mind was the reason for myself functioning as a normal human being and fulfilling my duties in my society. Looking past the atrocities in the world to wake up and continue my purpose, or Dharma, as a set of actions one has to complete and their lifetime. A set of hormones called endorphins make sure I do not wake up anxious and continue my due diligence on the matters that define me and need my assistance. Is it my biology and the conquest my ancient ancestors had that has given me this mental guide map on being committed on the things I value? A pre-recorded history lesson to be active on the work that ensure my ‘survival’ regardless if I am in the ancient, medieval or modern times. Any malfunction in this process results in the cases of depression or other mental deficiencies. Which are becoming all too common, as people diagnose themselves more. Which proves that the system is not all too effective and falls short. However, still keeping the societal moral code active. It is rare to hear someone deviate for the extreme.

 

I will say a clear moral code is essential to the functioning of a person and the society that they are a part. Defined as a code of conduct, morality acts as a mental map of predetermined responses to a series of ethical questions one is asked. Do I lie? No. Do I give change to the beggar on the street? Yes. These answers change from a person to person. A clear moral code conflict that we have gotten comfortable addressing is of veganism. It clear that veganism is a choice to go against the mass-producing and cruel rearing of animals in the meat and dairy industry. However, a person’s opinion on not following veganism does not mean that they support the industrial production of meat. Mapping a moral code of a person is complex because of the intricacies in a person’s logic and reasoning. This along with the fact that a person’s morality evolves makes this near impossible.

 

A person can be dictated a moral code as well. One of the ways being religion, where a divine entity’s teaching and the value I place in Him, decides my morality respecting people and telling the truth. Religion was started with this thought, to be a guide to the lost, the malignant in the society. Through guilt, fear, reward and eternal damnation was able to maintain a complex set of rules that would need to be followed by every functioning member of the society. This idea still functions well to this day, in most cases. However, this does not mean that the average atheist can go haywire in the daily life. They also adhere to a set of rules that broadly fall around the lines of the religions with some key differences to whom they listen to for their wisdom. For all religions to disappear tomorrow, will society collapse? I do not think so, many other media exist that talk largely on morality. A school education is one part of it, where the idea of learning and the quest of attaining knowledge is taught, along with the acceptance of the societal norms. Philosophical teachings are another sub-set of religious teachings. Although religion has philosophical teaching included in it, but not all philosophical teaching needs to be religious. Good examples is the sudden boost of self-help genre of books and course that teach how to be better in their personal or business lives. Draw from the subject of philosophy that was coined by ancient philosophers, blended with the conundrum of modernity. Words of ancient philosophers like Socrates and Plato have morphed to a level where the teachings can be consumed without the context of a Greek empire regardless the time and stage of society being read in. In addition, one's own life experience can help define a morality. I know things thanks to my past-self making mistakes and suffering the consequences for it. Idea of karma is seen as one of the defining factors for the upholding of moral reasoning. Although Karma comes from religious teachings, it transcends it, as it is so prevalent in the functioning of a developed society.

 

Law and order helps propagate this karmic idea. Society has maintained a strict moral code because going against the rules of the society will result in punishment through a relevant entity. It takes the idea of karma and the suffering after death, to the present where one’s wrong doings will be punished instantaneously; judged by other members of the society who will value the wrongdoings to the amount of the punishment sentence. However, there are fall backs to this idea as it depends on people to be morally strong to uphold it. Greed and hence corruption go hand in hand and the justice through law falls flat. Although, it is a situation argued to be a minority, but many can attest that it happens all too often. Still the idea and fear continues to keep people in check and the streets relatively safe.

 

If we raise a group of people in isolation from any external moral stimuli, will the new society be animalistic or be empathetic and work together for holding up the group. Ideally, the group realises the need for goodwill and working in harmony and a moral code develops to withhold this new group’s survival. This is the only way the group can survive generations. A group led by lawlessness will fall fast and this has happened countless times in history, where empires fall after the society is ravaged by lawlessness and fall of morality due to war, epidemics or more. When it is the acceptable to be immoral, it results in chaos, and leads to a falling of the society.

 

In the movie, Falling Down (1993) by Joel Schumacher starring Michael Douglas as D-fens as a person who loses his job, only to go on a homicidal rage, seeking revenge from the people who thinks wronged the society is an excellent portrayal of how a crumbling of morality works. The American dream taught him to obey, work and happily live with his family. Only for it to come crushing down after he is laid-off. On a self-righteous path, D-fens goes against all what he knows to take his anger out on what the American society has turned to. In the end as he contemplates whether to go to jail or be shot, we see his moral compass accept the idea of death, because it makes sure his family gets his insurance money and D-fens will not have to live with the embarrassment of ever serving jail time, (something the American dream taught him.)

Michael Douglas as D-fens in Falling Down, directed by Joel Schumacher

 

All the mentioned facets of morality are important for the functioning of a society, not one component can fall back. The synchronisation of all these factors make up for the fallacies of one. Religion without law cannot ensure pure morality and vice versa, where law cannot be a deterrent, religion can prove as a great instiller of a moral code.

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So should society be strict with its laws, depend on its people to be biologically healthy to uphold it. With religion working to encourage the message of prosperity and brotherhood. Will this forever maintain invincibility of a society? No. It is seen through an existing moral code another rises and both these codes are the tested if they can live in harmony or one perishes if not both. Every facet of society battles the other moral code on religion, on law, on philosophy to trivial things like sports and drama. A moral code will be challenged and it is on the code that a person contains in their heart to evolve or stay stationery or to accept. Moreover, these reactions move the society forward. It is essential to the functioning of the human species and the fate of the planet we reside in.