Thursday, March 7, 2013

Ethics Morality and "Sin"


Recently we heard a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association) address a group of students and parents on the subject of gun control. After the usual blah-blah-blah reasons why every American should pack an automatic weapon with a magazine of at least 20 shots to kill off the lethally homicidal deer population, he wrapped up with this thought:
"If someone breaks into your home, shoot to kill. Do not shoot to wound:
If the criminal lives, he or she will sue you."
Naïve fools that we are, we had imagined that most of the members of the NRA, and certainly of the audience of which we were a part, were Christians and thus would subscribe to the commandment, "Thou shall not kill."
The question that occurs to us is this: Was the speaker being ethical? Was he being moral? Or was he committing a sin by suggesting that we the audience break a "sacred" commandment?
Let us deal with the "sin" first. The commandment was written, we are given to understand, by a man (Moses), presumably at the behest of "God" or "Jehovah" himself. Should one regard written commandments as an absolute law? Should a religious law apply to all taxpayers in a nation founded by Enlightenment thinkers honoring absolute separation of church and state?
This is probably a good commandment, even though it is honored more in the breaking than in the usage. Mostly we obey the laws of the nation. We do not excessively exceed the speed limit on the highways or molest one another. Such laws are developed for the benefit of the whole of society.
We don't consider breaking them a "sin", though: It's merely a risk: the risk of being punished. So the arbitrary labeling of an act a "sin" probably has very little effect on our selection of the ethical set by which we choose to run our lives.
The question then becomes: When we recall the speaker who urged that we break the sacred law "Thou shall not kill", was he being moral? In our opinion the answer is "Of course not!" though in his own weird twisted way he probably thought of himself as a very upright, even exemplary citizen.
The killing of someone has a lower pain threshold for the killer than being sued. Where then do ethics come into this question? Are you "ethically" going to shoot the criminal--and shoot to kill, not to wound? It depends, of course, on what your ethical set really is. If you were brought up in a neighborhood of criminals, you will have an entirely different set of ethics than someone who was brought up in a good, friendly, "Christian" area. (Of course the two adjectives may be mutually exclusive.)
In America the murder rate is approximately 1000 times the murder rate in Japan and 100 times that of France; we are conditioned to think of life as being very cheap. So the ethics of American society permit acts which in those foreign societies would be anathema--unthinkable ... and memorably punishable.
If I go to the dictionary and look up morality and ethics, I find myself directed from ethics to morality and from morality back to ethics. Apparently the writers of our tomes don't know the answer either. The derivation of ethics in the etymological dictionary concludes with "a placing of oneself, hence self-assertion, self will, and habit relating to custom" and moral under "excellent in conduct"--and it is noted that the root of moral is "uncertain". So both ethical and moral relate to the way we conduct ourselves, but it is apparently up to each individual person to define their own level of "morality" and what is "ethical" behavior.
For most of us the dictionary definition is nothing like satisfactory. Many of us alternative individuals cannot and will not turn to the "bible" and St. Moses to improve the dictionary definition. We Frosts can suggest only that you try working out a definition for yourself. The thought of the Wiccan Rede might fleetingly cross your mind.
If it harm none, do what you will.

4 comments:

thirdeyespinning said...

"Weve got a thousand points of light for the Scotti man (born candlemass) weve got a kinder gentler machine gun hand. Keep on on rocking in the free world. Except from Neil Young song. Im going to tattle on that Jo Fost who said she didnt want alot of Pagan commentary on her facebook page or her superiors (whoever they are I thought it was you guys) might fire her. I will never ever give up(powerfull quote by Winston Churchhill) mater of fact in my movie "THE EARLY YEARS" THE FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENTS COLLEGE EXPERIENCE Im writing a scene where Anastasia Aurora Borealis Frost is assassinated and the last worlds out of here mouth is "WICCA!!!!" THEN THE SILOS OPEN UP. Love you guys mean it and by the way I will have to interupt my courses till I get a permanent address as I am literally and figuratively traveling around like a gypsy. From Sotti Hubbs creator of "The Early Years"

thirdeyespinning said...

Hey folks just realized I was ranting being Loki again maybe I should be more low key lol. I appreciate the sense of humor you showed in the first paragraph. This article reminds me of the thery "secular humanism" basically treating people as you would like to be treated. (thats nicer hubbs)says Godma. You comments are always thought provoking. I did a bringing down the moon ritual this past full moon (freaking awesome! getting goosebumps just thinking about it) I know your selves and Jo work on many levels and sometimes dont have time for my whimsical rants, but I have my own style so to speak. Blessed be the Frosts and family and to the 11,000,000 women and children killed in the Wiccan Holocaust YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!!!

Amaya Sakaruta said...

I'll just go ahead and be honest here. I live in the Bible belt and am a very strong Christian; I've been tested for schizophrenia and other chemical imbalances, and I don't have them. I've never done drugs. I'm on this site because I googled "Wiccan" and this looked like the simplest way to make contact with someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.
Basically, I've been contacted by some kind of beings that claim to be "immortal spirits". This has been going on for about two years, but it never really got intense until the few days in the aftermath of the Mayan prophecy scare. I did some research since then and found out the worst of it was during what the Egyptians called the "demon days". Anyways, they say a lot of bullshit about my having been "chosen" or something, but in my experience these guys like to lie and manipulate, so I don't trust them. And the only reason I'm risking putting this online is that on March 1, a voice claiming to be the moon (?) basically told me there would be an eclipse, a war would start and chaos would reign on March 21. So, should I be worried, or should I go back to repressing it?
Please answer. Thanks.

Amaya Sakaruta said...

I'll just go ahead and be honest here. I live in the Bible belt and am a very strong Christian; I've been tested for schizophrenia and other chemical imbalances, and I don't have them. I've never done drugs. I'm on this site because I googled "Wiccan" and this looked like the simplest way to make contact with someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.
Basically, I've been contacted by some kind of beings that claim to be "immortal spirits". This has been going on for about two years, but it never really got intense until the few days in the aftermath of the Mayan prophecy scare. I did some research since then and found out the worst of it was during what the Egyptians called the "demon days". Anyways, they say a lot of bullshit about my having been "chosen" or something, but in my experience these guys like to lie and manipulate, so I don't trust them. And the only reason I'm risking putting this online is that on March 1, a voice claiming to be the moon (?) basically told me there would be an eclipse, a war would start and chaos would reign on March 21. So, should I be worried, or should I go back to repressing it?
Please answer. Thanks.