Meaning & Morality
thoughts by Anitra L. Freeman

When we want our own way
so much we sacrifice our souls to get it
who wins?

     Where do we get our sense of morality?
     Does God tell us what is right?If everything that we know of right and wrong comes from God, how do we know that this is God speaking? Maybe it's the Devil, or Jerry Falwell, or Charles Kuralt. We have to test the spirits, right? So, if we have a way of testing the spirits, we have a way of knowing right from wrong -- independent of what any other spirit says.
     Law; society; family authority -- the same holds true for all these sources. Ultimately, human beings are telling us "this is right" -- and we, as human beings, have to decide whether or not to believe them. And then, of course, how much pain it's worth us to disagree.
     We must have an inner ability to decide what is right and what is wrong, or we wouldn't even be having this conversation -- we'd be angling to bash each other's brains out over who gets the dry side of the cave.
     That inner sense is educated and influenced by our family, our church, our society and laws. We also influence right back at them.
     Our inner moral sense is nothing like an instinct. It is not deterministic for every one of the species. We are all quite capable of doing things that our inner sense tells us are wrong (although we always have a rationalization for it, because the ability to rationalize is even greater than the ability to reason.) My sense of what is right and what is wrong may disagree with yours -- I disagree with my own Sweet Wesley occasionally over what's right and wrong.
     It is my argumaent that when we claim our own responsibility for our moral opinions -- "I think this is right" instead of "God says this is right" or "The Law says this is right" or "Mom says this is right" -- then we have a better chance of living rewarding lives as free moral adults, a better chance of learning and growing mentally and spiritually, and a much better chance of living satisfactorily with a planet full of people who don't believe in our God, our Government, or our Mom.

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