Your Moral Compass

[BigDaddyFin]

I didn't want to risk a hijack so I'm starting a new thread.

The issue being posed mainly in the Christians who support Trump thread seems to have evolved into a conversation about morality.  So with that said, I feel like laying some cards on the table and asking some questions that deal with how we decide right from wrong vs. politics.

Yes I am a Christian (a terrible one probably... my shit stinks just like everyone else and I'm far from perfect).  I am a Christian and continue to be because it is innate in me.  I believe my moral compass comes from three things. 

1.  The Ten Commandments
2.  The Constitution of the United States
3.  The New Commandment "Do unto others as you'd have done to you."

I fully recognize that you can be of a different religion or even an agnostic or atheist and still be a good person.  What always mattered to me is am I trying to be better than I am/was yesterday. 

Please discuss or ask any questions you wish.

[Fau Teixeira]

My moral compass is driven by my desire to lead a happy life and to spread happiness to those around me.
I don't believe that humans are inherently evil or good, and that their actions are a result of both biological and societal influences growing up.
I think that drives my political and philosophical leanings.

If i had to classify myself i would say i'm a humanist and adhere to a system of secular morality.

With regards to questions. Would you consider all 10 of the commandments moral statements? Would that extend to the entire old testament?
Would the parts of the constitution that deal with slaves being 3/5ths of a person be considered moral in your eyes? Or is your view that the constitution just reflected the morals of the time, and that those morals have evolved over time?
The new commandment sounds alot like the golden rule.

[Dave Gray]

I certainly don't get any morality from the Constitution.  Those are laws that evolve and change.  It's totally different than morality, to me.  My morals don't change based on the ebb and flow of government.

My morality compass is much more simple.  Just treat others the way you'd hope to be treated.  Do your best to leave a positive impact on people and the world around you.

Things like the Ten Commandments are fine.  I think they're pretty good rules to live by, in general, for the most part.  They could whittle it down to a few less and add a few more, but overall, I got few issues with it.

[Sunstroke]

My morality compass is much more simple.  Just treat others the way you'd hope to be treated.  Do your best to leave a positive impact on people and the world around you.

Things like the Ten Commandments are fine.  I think they're pretty good rules to live by, in general, for the most part.  They could whittle it down to a few less and add a few more, but overall, I got few issues with it.

This is why you and I tend to get along on most issues...I think that many of our core values are the same, or very similar.

[Spider-Dan]

Keep in mind that the Ten Commandments (specifically, the first two) are utterly incompatible with a society that allows freedom of religion.

[BigDaddyFin]

If i had to classify myself i would say i'm a humanist and adhere to a system of secular morality.

With regards to questions. Would you consider all 10 of the commandments moral statements? Would that extend to the entire old testament?
Would the parts of the constitution that deal with slaves being 3/5ths of a person be considered moral in your eyes? Or is your view that the constitution just reflected the morals of the time, and that those morals have evolved over time?
The new commandment sounds alot like the golden rule.

The 10 Commandments yes.  The Entire Old Testament, no.  I believe that the birth of Christ fulfilled the OT and as a result he more or less replaced them with the New Commandment, do unto others as you'd have done to you.

You're asking about slavery.  While it's not easy for me to imagine because I can't travel back in time I will say this.  I would ASSUME were I born in that day and age that I would have been an Abolitionist.  The Jews were slaves to Pharaoh and I would have been against that and so any form of slavery I wouldn't probably look kindly upon. 

The reason I put the Constitution in there is because even if I don't agree with every single law I believe in the point behind it which is that the power belongs to the people not the government and that if there is a law I don't like, I have a general faith in this country's institutions and procedures that it can always be changed.

[CF DolFan]

With regards to questions. Would you consider all 10 of the commandments moral statements? Would that extend to the entire old testament?

The Old Testament isn't for followers of Christ to follow per se. It is the story of the creation of man, the fall of man, and then after pointing out that God is Holy and man is not, it points to a Savior (Jesus) who can bridge that gap as a sacrifice for all who accept Him. Most of the laws of the old testament were only to point out how unholy man actually is. Without the laws ... mankind fools themselves into believing they are good. They still do that today.

On another note some of the laws were to help Israel to flourish ... like washing hands before they eat, eating kosher, not living in a house with mold and waiting two weeks after period starts to have sex (ovulation time).  They had no way of knowing the benefits of any of theses laws as we do today. That in itself is pretty amazing.

[SCFinfan]

Morality, for me, is based generally on natural law.

Similar to math, this is a sort of interwoven moral nature that the universe has for those that can perceive it (animals, generally, cannot, though there may be special cases and animals trained by humans may have some understanding of it) and which, unlike scientific laws, can be freely chosen or rejected. (You can't break the law of gravity or of conservation of matter, for example, but you can certainly break "thou ought not rape".) It is contextualized, and in this way is analogous to sheet music: the right note must be hit at the right time. The same note all the time won't work, and a certain note which may be generally correct is incorrect given context.

Given my supernaturalist perspective, there are certain cases where a direct command may either override or augment what I perceive to be the correct understanding of moral law. Moreover, I must keep an open mind as, even though I may perceive the natural law, there is no guaranty that I am perceiving it correctly, especially if I've done something to impair myself or have unwittingly become the slave of my passions (greed, envy, lust, and the like).

I perceive the Ten Commandments to be a perfectly fine starting point for someone's internal and external morality, but I don't believe they can be the endpoint. They are generally negative (thou shalt not) and seem to seek to avoid evil rather than encourage a pursuit of the good.

I don't believe the Constitution has much to do with morality except insofar as it seems to be highly suspicious of the abuses of concentrated political power. That tinges it morally, however, that is a very limited sense of morality. Sometimes, power concentrated is good to have, and further can be a benefit to people. (For example, some of the programs that FDR implemented, or the rather direct and powerful response to Axis aggression during WW2.)

The New Commandment, Golden Rule and the Beattitudes are, in my view, a very good distillation of basic morality. As is, in a more basic and vague sense, Micah 6:8. However, they are not the endpoint either. Every day brings a new set of circumstances. Every age has its own challenges and difficulties, and one of the enjoyable things about considerations of morality is that, while the bedrock really hasn't changed in aeons, the context never stops or really even slows down, so, one must remain ever vigilant and constantly thinking to keep up. This can be very exhausting for some, but for someone like me, I really enjoy it.