There is much talk these days about our nation having lost
its moral authority—of abandoning the ideals that made this nation great. A threatened loss of something taken for
granted makes us realize its importance.
Our previous administration was clearly focused upon what is
commonly called the ‘greater good’—that which benefits the greatest number of
people or the human race in general. The
current administration has systematically reversed almost every prior initiative
taken in health care, climate change, immigration reform, clean energy,
involvement with international organizations, and the use of diplomacy in
conflict resolution. How is that NOT
shocking?
A few brave Republicans have put principles above party and
spoken out against Donald Trump’s fitness to be president and proclaimed him a
danger to our democracy. There is a new
book out to which 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts have contributed,
titled The Dangerous Case of Donald
Trump.
Donald Trump has no respect for truth, he lies
uncontrollably and winning by whatever means is the only value he holds. He gives all indications of being
amoral. Amoral is defined as: lacking a
moral sense; one unconcerned with rightness or wrongness of something. --This also is the definition of a sociopath.
In our secular world we don’t talk too much about morality
any more, but I want to make some comments about morality. First, a few definitions:
--principles
concerning the distinction between right & wrong, good & bad
--values and principles
of conduct/behavior
--the extent to
which an action is right or wrong.
Morality is uniquely human.
We share many qualities with other animals, but morality is the hallmark
of the human species. It arises from
reflective awareness, the highest level of consciousness. It is the expression of the god quality
inherent in us. We can only be fully
human when morality becomes central to our choice making. We have the great gift of free will and that
means equal access to good and evil. We
are called to make the free choice for the good—therein do we approach God.
The secular society has tried to regulate behavior through
legality. The law is necessary as
foundational to civilization but without the injection of morality into the decision-making,
legality dissolves into nit-picking fine points of laws and manipulating them
to win a dispute. Law is of the
‘without’, morality is of ‘the within’; both must be considered to arrive at
justice.
Anyone without a sense of moral order is unfit to lead a
nation.