Morality and Harm

Stan (at his "Winging It" blog), recently took it upon himself to speak for me, telling me what I believe and identifying some area of agreement between us. The conservatives that I've interacted have historically proven incredibly inept at stating MY positions. Stan did better than many have done, but still missed the important distinctions of what I believe.

Stan said, among other things...

There is something that he and I agree on. Seriously. Dan argues that morality is based on harm. Without quite agreeing with that, I believe that harm is a principle that is involved with morality. Unfortunately, at that single point of agreement ... we diverge. Dan believes, next, that we can reliably figure out what "harm" is so we can reliably determine what should or should not be moral. I don't...

Dan and I both believe that morality and harm are interlinked.

The difference is that Dan is absolutely certain that he has the ability and wisdom and far-reaching understanding to determine what constitutes harm, and I'm just not that good. So I tend to rely on the Manufacturer, the Maker of humans. If He says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? ..." (1 Cor 6:9-10) (for instance), I'm not going to castigate Him for saying so. I'm going to warn those I love. "Watch out! This will hurt you!"

His post is called "The Harm Principle," if anyone wants to read it in full.

Some clarifications/corrections...

1. Dan doesn't argue that morality is "based on harm."

2. Dan argues that IF we're causing harm to an innocent person, then we're almost certainly wrong to do so. That is, it's morally bad to harm another baselessly. It's wrong to kill someone. It's wrong to abuse, rape, burn to death, torture, blow up, steal from, assault another human being. That may be similar to "morality is based on harm," but I just wanted to clarify because it's not the same, to me.

The way I would put it might be something more like...

Morality can probably be best understood as supporting that which strengthens, encourages and helps, and immorality can probably be best understood as that which causes harm, oppression, a devaluation of human rights.

3. Where Stan suggests that I'm doing something amazing ("Dan believes we can reliably figure out what harm is...") I disagree. Where Stan says he's not reliably able to figure out what harm is ("I don't..." and "I'm just not that good..."), he is of course, mistaken. OF COURSE he can recognize that killing his neighbor is wrong. That abusing his child is wrong. That catching a person's house on fire is wrong.

That is, generally speaking, we all universally understand the reasonable and moral nature of Do No Harm to Others and the corresponding, Be Helpful, Be Kind, Be a Good Neighbor. In broad strokes, we tend to understand that, regardless of culture, religion, beliefs or politics.

4. Stan's "solution," on the other hand, "Use the Owners Manual," has its own set of problems.

4a. Not everyone agrees that the Bible is the owners manual, or even a good source for morality.

4b. Even amongst those who value the Bible's moral teachings, there is not universal agreement on what is and isn't moral.

4c. Referring to the "owners manual," then, to understand what is and isn't moral STILL involves our human reasoning and our human reasoning is imperfect.

Thus, the advantages of using Harm as a gauge of morality is that it's practical, it's understandable, it's understandable pretty universally, it's not dependent upon belief in a certain segment of sects within a given religion and its sacred text. It's a more universal way of understanding right and wrong.

And if, as Stan seems to acknowledge, that God wants the good for us and doesn't want bad, then we could also reason that IF we find a moral ruling that causes harm ("Polluting is okay, as long as it's only in rural water streams where not as many people live," for instance), then we can be pretty sure that it's violating "the owners manual..."

Put yet another way: IF an inability to understand morality 100% perfectly is a problem with using Harm as a guide, it's every bit as true that understanding morality based upon reading the Bible will also not result in 100% understanding.

Stan would not take the time to correct or address his misrepresentations and lack of understanding of my views on his blog, but I would ask him, Where am I mistaken?

Reading the Bible will not result in 100% perfect understanding of morality. Correct?

Using harm as a guide will not result in 100% perfect understanding of morality. Correct?

There is no data to suggest that using the Bible as a guide is ANY more effective at understanding morality than using harm as a guide. Indeed, given that some significant portion of the world does not take the Bible as a moral guide AND that even with those who do value the Bible, there is disagreement on moral questions, then one could argue that it's a less effective way to understand morality. 

Is that not reasonable? Practical?

We Shall Overcome... Someday?

From Dr King...


"You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?"

You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed,
this is the very purpose of direct action.

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension."

I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.

Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation
so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue...

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.

For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied...”

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal.

By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.

Let me give another explanation.

A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama [Georgia, Dan] which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama [Georgia, Dan] all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?"

Read King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail...

https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Into the Swamp

Hiding in the hills, and taking to the trees
Wayward wandering ones

Led by smoke and led by fire
led by the noon day sun

Into the swamp we waded and tromped
baptized our bleeding scars
we flew from the noise to the peaceful fields
and there we gathered stars

 

That's "Good News..." How?

I'm still reading/listening to white conservative evangelicals talk about the Gospel, the literal Good News and trying to make sense of what they're saying. Rarely to never do I get answers, so just posting an attempt again at understanding.

So (I'm asking)... the GOOD news is that

1. your god is an impatient, irrational and unjust tyrant (Not that they're saying that, but if he were a king who acted this way, he'd be considered an impatient and unjust and irrational tyrant, as we'll see),
 
2. who created an imperfect humanity,

3. KNOWING that we were imperfect

4. and who then demands perfection to be in his company, to enter heaven

5. and when we are not perfect (ie, how your god created us, in your theory), that god thinks we deserve an eternity of torture and is willing to send us there

6. UNLESS we repent (and do it in just the right way, not being mistaken on how to do it, even though we're imperfect and prone to being mistaken - see point 2)

7. and THIS god (who would not be called loving or perfect if he were a human parent or ruler) has provided ONE possible bit of good news - that there MUST be a blood sacrifice to "pay" for our sin-debt... this god of yours is wholly impotent and incapable of forgiving sin outside of this perfect blood sacrifice and a repentance done in roughly just the right way

8. and thus, the "good news" is that IF you accept this blood sacrifice offered in our place (by this god's own son, no less!), you can be saved!

9. AND YET, if you are sincerely mistaken in your views about homosexuality or the penal substitutionary atonement or the inerrancy of the Bible and some other undesignated list of rules/tenets you must understand roughly correctly... all of that MIGHT be a sign that your "repentance" didn't quite "take" right or that you were never saved in the first place? That you repented wrongly?

Is that a fair rendering of what you're calling good news?

If so, do you realize that this version of "good news" goes entirely* un-preached by Jesus during his years on earth in any of the sermons he preached? That seems odd, doesn't it?

[*certainly not directly]

Also, there will be some VAST majority who will not understand this good news - or maybe never hear it! - or who will get the details wrong in a sufficient manner that any repentance they do (in good faith), won't be sufficient to save them, nor will your god's "grace," which is less grace and more of a cosmic blood payment business deal, is that right?

And that for that VAST majority of humanity, this god of yours will let them suffer unimaginably an eternity for some temporal "sins" or "crimes" they committed - most of those sins almost certainly of the relatively minor sort that wouldn't even merit a prison sentence with human justice. Certainly not a life imprisonment penalty, never mind an eternity of torture.

Do you understand how that doesn't seem to be good news at all, to many?

An Easter Plot

[DAN: Jesus begins his ministry by saying...]

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because God has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

[DAN: Some have noted that “the year of the Lord's favor” is a reference to the Jewish tradition of Jubilee and the Sabbath laws... rules designed to return land to the poor and to ensure that the poor and marginalized had real options to recover.

Soon after Jesus begins his ministry, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law begin responding to Jesus' ministry...]

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples,

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered them,

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus and disciples were “harvesting” wheat from farmers' fields on the Sabbath...

The Pharisees asked,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus answered them,

“Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand...

“Get up and stand in front of everyone.”

So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them,

“I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

He looked around at them all, and then said to the man,

“Stretch out your hand.”

He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

“But to you who are listening I say:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
Give to everyone who asks you, and
if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

[DAN: John the Baptist was curious if Jesus was “the One...”]

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to John's messengers,

“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard:
The blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

[DAN: Jesus is speaking about the “proof” of his ministry and he talks about some miraculous events... but his BIG wrap up is, “the good news is proclaimed to the poor!”

Jesus, speaking of the Pharisees...]

“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’

“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

[DAN: Jesus, speaking of the Pharisees...]

“And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

“Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’

Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

When Jesus went outside,
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely
and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

[DAN: A rich man is planning on what to do with his great wealth...]

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him,
‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.”

A certain ruler asked Jesus,

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him,

“You still lack one thing.
Sell everything you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said,

“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them,

“I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’?

If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside -
what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father.

[DAN speaking: What WERE the works that Jesus was citing?
Preaching the good news of the realm of God specifically to the poor and marginalized...
and calling out the oppression of the rich and powerful and the religious rulers]

But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

[DAN: The parable of the sheep and the goats...]

“When the Holy One comes in glory, and all the angels with him, they will sit on their glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before them, and they will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. They will put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.

“Then the Ruler will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by God; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer, ‘Holy One, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The Ruler will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then the Ruler will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“The Ruler will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

[DAN speaking: Nearing the end, now...

In the context of ALL that /\ consistent teaching,
the warnings against wealth and power,

the teachings to align with the poor, marginalized and “least of these,”
the constant harsh rebukes and mocking of the religious leaders, the rich and powerful...
in THAT context and immediately after this parable about the sheep and the goats...

The Pharisees met...]

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,

“As you know, the Passover is two days away –
and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then
the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and
they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.

“But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”