“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.” (Theodore Parker, August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860)
I have lost sight of the moral universe many times in the past few years. Confident that laws of human decency prevailed, I knew for sure how most people would behave towards most other people most of the time. I knew for sure what people would not do to one another.
In truth, the moral universe we thought we knew has been spinning away for a very long time. Acts of tyranny and white supremacy that belonged to the history books keep seeping out of those pages. Malevolence wears a thousand disguises today, having been given new life in a rampage of lies, cheating, bigotry, wanton damage, blatant ignorance and perversity – from high level elected officials and from ordinary citizens.
Once upon a time, when we were children, we thought a lot about right and wrong. We were keen observers of how people behaved. Some characters – in the stories we read and in real life – were bad and some were good, and we mimicked those roles in our play. We could spot a villain a mile away in the movies. Eventually, we were supposed to grow up into adults who had a clear sense of right wrong. We didn’t need anyone to tell us the difference.
The truth is, knowing right from wrong, good from evil, is a lifelong process. Evil keeps presenting itself anew, in ways we never imagined. There is no shame in being upset by stories in today’s news and feeling as if you are the one out in left field without a glove. When the behaviors of those in powerful government positions treat morality as a toy, we, as individuals, may feel a sickening sense of powerlessness, or depression, or overwhelming anxiety for the people being hurt.
In such times, it may be helpful to remember something as simple as being yourself. When so many news stories report villainous behavior from elected leaders, when all around you citizens are freely expressing their hatred and bigotry, don’t let that change who you are. Don’t disappear. Instead, accentuate the best of you, and what you have to offer. I’ve made my own list, to get me through these times:
- Don’t allow anyone – government official, news reporter, relative, Facebook friend – to tell you that you have to believe a report, theory or idea. Check the facts, always. Have the courage to call attention to falsity and deceit. Be the one who is armed with the truth, and remain kind.
- Don’t allow our indigenous population to remain invisible through omission. Be the one who brings Native Americans into conversations about state sanctioned injustice, environmental policies, poverty, immigration, discrimination, education and all of the other issues of the day.
- Don’t allow someone to tell you that what you know to be wrong is right, or that what you know to be right is wrong. Eliminating laws against air, soil and water pollution is wrong. Allowing children to eat healthy school lunches is right. Failing to keep our children safe from school massacres is wrong. Ensuring health care for everyone is right. Attacking the poor while ignoring poverty is wrong. Be the one who speaks of issues in terms of why actions are right or wrong, instead of in terms of partisan politics, or money.
- Call things by their right names. “Separating” children from their families at the border is intentional terrorism and torture. (William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice comes to mind.) Making laws to severely curtail women’s access to health care is misogyny. Calling migrants rapists and terrorists is bigotry. Calling the press an enemy of the people is totalitarian. Be the one who speaks truth to power.
- Don’t allow anyone in your presence to mock or belittle or bully another person for any reason. Don’t allow anyone to denigrate, scorn or characterize others with a label. Use you privilege on behalf of others. Be the one who intervenes.
- When others are heaping criticism and scorn on immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ folk, black people or brown people, find ways to lift them up. Make your life matter. Be the one who finds a purpose fueled by love. Be the one who treats every human being with dignity and equality.
The moral universe is made up of ageless truths found among the words of great leaders and the wise ones of different times and cultures. There are many ways to enter into this place, especially through one’s own religion. It helps to congregate with others of our faith and listen to the wisdom of holy people whose teachings have endured through centuries of human history. At the center of many different religions are the same lessons: we need to love one another – unconditionally, no exceptions. Members of the moral universe make an effort to demonstrate that love – all the time, no exceptions.
In such times as these, listening only to a single TV program or radio show is like wearing a great big boulder around our necks. Attending only to one perspective weighs us down, keeps us glued to the spot. We need to elevate our knowledge, allow it to roam far and wide by reading and thinking about the issues of the day from multiple perspectives. Be the one who enjoys exchanging thoughts and experiences with others, the one who can be flexible and see issues from different perspectives. Sticking to a rote recitation of the same tired old phrases means the brain is ossified, frozen in place.
It helps to have a community, a tribe, a village of people we have cobbled together. With others in our personal community, we can discuss issues and news events in a caring and safe environment. We can read books together, volunteer together, protest together. We can challenge each other and, in the process, contribute to each other’s growth and learning.
An academic reference for judging right from wrong is what is called “stage theory.” If our developmental path is a normal one – not skewed by abnormal forces at home or within our own personalities – most of us pass through stages of moral reasoning, just as we pass through stages of physical development.
Although different researchers have come up with variations on these stages, Lawrence Kohlberg’s initial work (focusing on males) and Carol Gilligan’s later work (focusing on females) have together given us a framework that goes something like this:
Preschool and elementary school: We are obedient in order to avoid punishment. Guided by our own survival and self-interest, we do as adults teach us, except when we think we can get away with disobeying the rules! We think it’s ok to do what we feel like doing, even if we know it’s wrong, as long as our behavior has no consequences. If our moral development stops at this stage, we behave like petulant little children who do bad things behind others’ backs and refuse to take responsibility for our own actions. We lack the internal moral compass that starts to develop at the next stage to help us determine right from wrong.
Late elementary school and into high school: Our morality through the teen years leans heavily on law and order. Since police represent “the law,” they are seen, at this stage of moral reasoning, as “doing their jobs,” no matter how badly they may behave.We judge our own and others’ behavior according to compliance with society’s laws. Compliance with Biblical passages may be part of this, if we belong to a church that has a rigid sense of right and wrong.
During this stage, we are wrapped up in what others think of us. We want to please those we love and admire. Now we are aware that our behaviors have an effect on others. If we get stuck in this stage, we may go along with the beliefs and values of our neighborhood or family culture, even when we do not share them, because we want those closest to us to see us favorably.
We may get trapped in the role of caregiver, if we stop developing at this stage. We may see others as selfish because we have become overly concerned with being selfless.
If we stop developing, morally speaking, at this stage, it becomes difficult to understand the moral reasoning of people at the next two stages of development.
Late high school and college: Rules and laws are seen as flexible tools that maintain order and protect human rights, at this stage of moral development. We understand that some laws may need to be changed, as they treat some people unfairly. Our sense of right and wrong keeps developing through our relationships with others. The quality of a friendship matters more than the quantity of friends. How we treat others at this stage, friends and strangers alike, reflects our world view and our concept of a just and equitable society. In this stage we may develop a life-long devotion to a singular cause – participating in protests and petitions to correct a situation that we find particularly unjust or urgent, such as protecting the environment or helping the homeless.
And finally, if we are able to keep learning and thinking about the moral universe throughout our adult life, we may arrive at what are considered universal, ethical principles. These apply to people everywhere around the globe, of every creed and color, in all circumstances – abstract principles such as justice and equality. At this stage, we work hard to change laws that discriminate against or marginalize some citizens. We are willing to disobey laws that are unjust and violate the dignity of any human being. Our personal, social and political choices are evaluated in terms of their consequences for others – whether one other person is affected, or the entire planet.
I liked having this framework of stages to think about when I was in my twenties. The moral universe still felt pretty squishy and unpredictable to me, but I wanted to be a good person. I found myself applying this framework of moral development to some of the issues of my salad days – the women’s movement launched by Gloria Steinem, the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the way Robert Kennedy spoke about poverty in our country, Robert Coles’ work on migrant children. I noticed that the great leaders of the day all spoke from an advanced stage of moral development about what had gone wrong in our country. I wanted to be like them, on the side of what is right and fair and just, willing to work to change things.
Today’s young people face the same tempest of public concerns that are fundamentally moral issues: gun control, access to health care and education, fair and equitable wages, environmental sustainability. Using the “stages” framework can turn confusion about these important ideas into a moral reasoning process that promotes maturity and a life-long quest to live in a moral world.
If you feel stuck in an early stage of moral reasoning, and you would like to grow towards a higher level of reasoning, you can try debating issues from the next higher stage. You’ll need to do this within a companionable group of people who think about issues from different perspectives and stages of development. Engage with others in discussions about the matters that most concern you, and then see if you can articulate which arguments fall into which stage of moral reasoning.
I continue to discover moral anchors that resonate with my own lifetime’s worth of experiences and lessons. Here, for example, are some items in the Native American code of ethics:
Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
If you want to be a person with highly developed moral-ethical standards, for instance, it may change the relationships you seek, the career path you are on, the place where you live, and even the clothes you wear. The hardest part of knowing what you need to be doing with your life is grappling with the work of getting to know yourself. I am as sure of this as I am sure that it took me two years of living alone on an island to figure out that I was not meant for the academic career I had worked so hard to build.
Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.
People who are wobbling all over the moral universe have lost their own path. Perhaps they started out knowing how to be a decent human being, but the choices they made along the way did not reflect knowledge of or concern about human decency. Their soul is hanging on by a thread – it no longer shines through their actions and decisions. Be the one who prays for those who, despite all appearances, are lost.
Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
This has to include the way I speak about any public officials making decisions I loathe, behaving in ways I detest, speaking falsehoods I cannot abide, committing atrocities we must address. We can talk about the issues, but the person is still a person – not to be confused with the policies and politics they represent.
Finding the moral universe requires effort. It’s a quest – long, arduous, and full of twists and turns. Keep looking. Read constantly, from different sources. Think through the issues of the day, using the framework of teachings you believe in. Join up with others who are seeking the moral universe. If you behave as if there is a moral universe, you will find your place in it.
