One's Moral Compass

I came to a fork in the road. It had been run over and hadn't been anything to write home about before that. I took it anyway.

I guess the way you handle a moral dilemma depends upon what sort of condiment you use with it.

Yogi also said:

"It gets late early out here."

Well, it's early here -- which mean it's late -- so I am off to bed.

It has been a long day's journey into night.

So busy, in fact, that it was just a two condiment day.

Do What is Right, at All Times, Whether It Is Popular or Not ...
 
In the Ultimate, No One ... Will have to answer for Doing/Being Right ...
 
And ... There ARE NO Shades of Gray .......
 
All of the above is True, unless one is a Unitarian, or belongs to the Urantia Group .......

Years ago I signed on as crew and navigator on a Ferro Cement sailboat, a Cascade 38. A younger girl than I was also on board as crew. The owners, a couple, began losing it as we rounded Point Conception and by the time we were near Morro Bay in California, he pulled out a gun and was swinging it at us, barking orders and not in control of his senses. We put anchor about a mile from Morro Bay and they locked themselves in the aft cabin, no longer trusting us, the boat and keeping us prisoners on their craft.
I was young but wanted to be a good person, responsible and a decent skipper but the man was clearly not in good frame of mind and I worried about our lives.
We ended up taking the ER raft in the middle of the night and bailing on the couple. We left the raft at the harbor and hitchhiked back home to Monterey. I knew they would not be able to sail by themselves but had to make that moral decision which ended up being "me first, then you" Have I ever regretted it? Never, life presents itself and one must "DO" at times, right or wrong.

I try to do my best, making what is at times a difficult choice from what is in front of me, but putting my whole effort and my whole heart into it. To say that it is never grey is to ignore life's complexities.  I would disagree and say that it is unfortunately frequently grey, but I try to set boundaries beyond which I will not go.  I have found in this life, after almost 68 years, that saying "always" and "never" are words that I can come to regret.  "Thou shalt not kill" is very black and white - until you need to defend your family from a madman or are sent off to a war.  Pacifists see it in black and white; I find myself more pragmatic.  But that's life: a continual process of choice in which one's moral boundaries are important.

In the moral dilemmas posed above in a sidebar, I found that I could torture a bomber to find out where he hid the bomb to save the lives of the dozens of people his bomb would kill, I could rescue the weaker swimmer, stop the gushing blood of the one who would surely die without care, but for the life of me, I could not figure out how to advise Mrs. Weiner. First, I want her to divorce the dolt, but then she's preggers with his baby, so she's on the "horns of a  (moral)dilemma."

I think that there are some things that are morally wrong no matter what the circumstances and others that are wrong under only certain circumstances. For example, I think abortion as retroactive birth control for the convenience of the adult is morally wrong, but abortion in the case of incest or rape (especially for victims under the age of consent) is acceptable. I know there are other people who think differently and have no objection to them having a different opinion than me.

Back when I was taking my Introduction to Paralegalism class we had several assignments that ended up pitting our personal moral stand on things like the death penalty and the current law. The final assignment was a bear. We had to decide whether a group of spelunkers who killed and ate one of their members while trapped for three weeks without food in a cave before being rescued in an expensive operation that killed three rescuers should or should not face the death penalty after being found guilty of murder. The kicker was that for the purposes of the assignment the sentence for murder was death by hanging, no exceptions.

As I personally have issues with the death penalty (mostly because of the inequitable way it is handed down against a higher proportion of poor and non-whites) this assignment was horrendously difficult to complete. I still am not happy with my decision on the assignment, having forcibly separated my personal opinion from an analysis of the law and rights of the court in relation to legislated law. My professor even gave me an A on the assignment.

In the end, I decided that when it comes to such moral dilemmas I need to stand by what I think is morally right (so long as I can explain WHY I think my stand is right) and peaceably try to change the laws that allow what I think is wrong to continue. And I believe that any person who feels differently than I do has the right to do the same thing for their stand. But the key is to do it peaceably and within the law, not forcing others to my way of thinking with any other than my reasoning.

Now that I've said my piece I'm going to go get some breakfast and think about the three adorable baby sharp-shinned hawks that ate in the oak tree in my back yard.

My neighbors complained that my feeding the birds and squirrels was damaging their lawns and yard furniture. I informed them I was not feeding squirrels,but hawks. And mosquito eaters that now visit my yard every day. I have no mice anymore,either.

As an admirer of Søren Kierkegaard, I willl toss out his famous quote, "I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both." I used a phrase in some writings of mine years ago that a business friend often said; a modified poker phrase- Y'in Y'out. The old timers at the local country store, the true philosophers of my youth often remarked "either shit or get off the pot." I feel that a sincere person will face those moral problems and do something then either learn from their failures or be encouraged by their successes. A Sincere Prayer rarely changes God but certainly changes the person doing the praying and as a result the actuality of the doing.

I firmly believe that the best backyard is one filled with squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and well-fed hawks. Not to mention clover, dandelions and violets. If I want a boring stretch of grass for a yard I'd live on a golf course.

The three eyases are the first hatching for the parents and Mum and Dad are doing a great job.

Tommy, I like your quote.  In ministerial school, one wise faculty member summarized doing minister as: "Show up, pay attention and respond with love."  It is rare to see any one of those three exercised in daily life, nut they work so well when I remember.  Death penalty?  It does not deter others, but it does cure recidivism.  And it is savagely inequitable.  Don't be poor and black if you kill someone.  And then there is the US prison population of 2.3 million - enough people to populate a good-sized city, and more than the People's Republic of China.  But that number includes thousands of users for whom a rehab would be more appropriate.  But it is easier (though more expensive) to warehouse them.  The U.S. has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the prisoners.  That is insane, though arguably black and white.  It reminds me of when my daughter was 8, 14 years ago, and declared that she would never eat anything with sauce of any kind on it.  The first grey area was spaghetti sauce.  And now she is an aficionado of Chinese cooking in which every dish has a sauce.  Never!  Always!  Bah!  Political slogans are a poor substitute for rational thought.  And they always eliminate mercy and compassion which I believe is our highest calling.
Show up.  Pay attention.  Respond in love.  Put forth your best effort.  That is enough.  Then if need be, find a shoulder for comfort and cry with grief at the terrible choice you had to make.

Lynn et al- Acting rationally of which you speak requires thought in its purest sense. Be it the Greeks or the Jewish Prophets or Jesus on down to the practice of the art of meditation or lectio divina or sitting on the front porch in a swing, we must find in our lives an underlying spiritual rhythm that activates mental understanding and works that manifest themselves in Truth which is love without bias. I fail daily but I also succeed daily as I journey. My decisions rarely having me beat myself up anymore but rather I hear that inner voice saying "It's alright, bud, you gave it a good shot. Next time you will do a little better." Then I read from Zen Soup and think of Van Gogh's question- How can I be useful?  

When it becomes necessary to choose between wright and wrong, I always ask myself, What would Steven do?

I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts
feel so good.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad
memory.

My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your
brakes, so I made your horn louder."

 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSif77IVQdY

My friend, Ariel, whose fourteen year old daughter, Raven, had seen nothing and heard but little of the great Weiner news bonanza (she had been incommunicado at some kind of retreat), decided to wind up her father a little when he seemed too interested.
Having scrounged around the interweb for the latest self-portrait of the fully aroused Weiner weiner, he observed that it was: "really something."
She, passing through and not meant to have heard him, yawned, winked at her mom and suggested: "I didn't think it was anything special."

With all who say moral choices can be shades of gray I have to fully agree.  I have a guide.  I fail Him often, but he is forgiving, and so I must be. 
 
Thanks, Miss Blue for the song.  It reminded me of another old spiritual: "I want to be like Jesus".  I fail often, but He is forgiving, and I keep trying. 

*white rabbits in*
 
Excellent thought provoking essay today.  Unfortunately, I don't have time to come up with a clearly worded response to it.  But I'll keep thinking on it as I do my work.
 
I hope you all have a lovely day!
 
*white rabbits out*

I remember Mom saying that she was satisfied that I would always try to do the right thing but that the hard part was in knowing what it was.

Tommy's onto something: "How can I be useful?"
And isn't it interesting how often trying to takes you in a direction you weren't headed?

Miss Blue ~
Nice tune.

 Aristotle, Kierkegaard, Confucius and  even the Great Jesus of Nazareth have nothing to offer when you come to the spoon in the road.

'be good'

ET

Go with your gut.

I've found that ethics and morality are as easy or hard as you make it. In ethical dilemmas, the ultimate goal is the Google mantra of "do no harm". Easier said than done and sometimes you have to choose the needs of the many over the few. But ethics is clouded by emotions and that is where the issue comes in.

Like the French guy torn between his mother and fighting the Germans. Clearly, if he doesn't fight the Germans, his mother will have no country to live in. If he stays with his mother, he tacitly lets that happen. He's torn between a certain responsibility to defend his life, livelihood and family from the Germans but then he also has a need to help his mother out. In reality, he is letting his emotions not see the idea that fighting the Germans and providing support for his mother are the same thing even if it's at either end of the "helping" spectrum. Both are good but if he forsakes his country in favor of his mother, he harms his countrymen. If he forsakes his mother, he is still helping her, just not in the way that he feels obligated to. So the ethical dilemma isn't in whether he should help defend his home or not, it clear what he should do. The ethical dilemma lies in how right and just is he in choosing his mother over fending off Germans or, oppositely how right or just is he in fending off Germans over choosing his mother.

Being able to look past the face value of the dilemma presented and divorcing yourself from the emotional aspect is key to understanding if not solving ethical dilemmas. It's rationalization, yes, but what is rationalization? It's breaking down a problem to see the root and then making a decision based on that root in a rational matter. When you are trying to justify poor behavior, rationalization brings a negative tone. However, rationalization is just a logical, emotionally bereft approach to problem solving, for good or bad. Now, if the logic behind the problem solving is flawed, that is where rationalization becomes a negative thing.

Logic usually gets flawed because of some sort of emotional investment in the dilemma where an irrational sense of responsibility or duty to the lesser cause makes the person having the dilemma see that lesser cause with greater importance. It is a selfish manner in which to look at it and it's a basic instinct of survival. We, as humans in our human condition are more inclined to sacrifice you and yours for the sake of our own and ours. That's basic survival and when presented with a stressful situation, the first instinct is to grab what you can and beat it before the fit hits the Shan. At that point, what separates us from the animals is that we can choose to stop and think of others before we make like a tree and get out of there. That's morality kicking in.

At that point, morality is essentially our conscience asking the question "Can you really live with yourself if you make that choice given the consequences that that choice carries with it?" Now the thing about this kind of question is, the answer changes. Morally bankrupt acts like stealing a candy bar have fairly small impacts in the grand scheme of things. It's decisively wrong to do so because ethically, it harms others. BUT! What if there was, say, a zombie invasion and the store owner had already been infected and had a matter of time to go before he was zombified himself? You're not infected, he's already been harmed, that candy bar is life sustaining for you, it won't do him a darn bit of good. So ethically, it's still wrong because it's not yours to take. However, who is it harming? The zombie store keeper? Well, the zombie store keeper wants your brains at this point and that's going harm you so are you stealing from a store keeper who is technically dead even if he's "undead"? You're no longer harming him because the "him" that owned the store isn't really there. So morally, there is no dilemma because the idea of salvaging abandoned resources and survival from an imminent threat negate any moral dilemma there might be against harming the store keeper. Ethically though, it's still harm because fundamentally it's not yours. Realistically though, it's not really anyone's candy bar if teh shop keeper left no instruction on how the store is to be divided up. Is it really stealing if there is no longer a merchant to lay claim and demand payment? I mean, if it was an apple in a tree you wouldn't think twice about it because, well, it's an apple. Even if you don't know who's apple tree it is. Ethically, it's still wrong because ignorance is no excuse for the law and honestly, it's harming the tree, even if the tree uses that tasty apple to spread it's seeds. So ethical dilemmas are created when morality conflicts with what is ethical. Morality can change weight dependding on the situation where as, ethics doesn't. Ethics is the difference between right and wrong. Morality is the question of how right or how wrong is it. Morality is the gray area to the definitive science of ethics and logic. It changes the game and forces dilemmas because morality is based in ethics but also emotions. Ethics is rational, emotions aren't.

It spirals out of control pretty quickly because of that. So solving a particular dilemma can be difficult if the problem solver loses sight of the actual problem requiring solution. That happens when we assign too much value to a component, misinterpret our own, emotional investment in the problem, over-analyze and rationalize with false logic. It's not an easy thing to do and despite what people say about the "logical greats" like King Solomon, it requires a pretty high level of cranial horsepower to even see the problem for what it is.

Oh and remember King Solomon's logical feat of deciding to cut the baby in half and give half to the real mother and half to the fake mother? He didn't solve the problem. The real mother did. All he did was take away the emotional investment that the fake mother would have had by playing the real mother's emotional bond to the child against the fake mother. The real mother made the ethical decision that the needs of the baby were far greater than her needs as a mother and made the decision to give up the child for the sake of the child's life. Solomon decided to kill the baby and no one would have the baby. Not really wisdom. Where his wisdom came in was in knowing what the decision would invoke in at least one person in the dilemma and using that to find the true solution to the dilemma.

There are times with morals and ethics when we are too hard on ourselves.  As Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, said in the "Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous),

No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

I make ethical and moral decision on my own - never in a group - we should decide what is morally right from within  A moral decision has to be pure - not blended with others views.  The right moral decision cannot be adulterated.
 
When I was on that road with the dying man - my moral decision was to stay with this dying man - but I followed my father's command - run away and safe your own life. It was a deadly decision to run - I had to pay for it all my life. I punished myself for not doing the right thing as I saw it - staying with the dying stranger that lay on the street at my feet.  
 
From that day on = my life does not come first in my moral decisions.   We cannot debate morallity - because it written within us all -  There is only one answer - do the right thing that serves all mankind.  We can not blend it - it has to be pure.
 
Since that war experience when I went along with an adult decision when I was a child - I never follow anyone - to follow others - the price tag would be too high for my unconscious guilt that could have destroyed me - my open mind towards myself gave me the chance to erase my guilt from my unconscious thoughts that were buried below - through searching for the  truth of what is right not just for me, I forgave myself with a little hug for me.
 
When we decide on our own what is right or wrong - it is free - whether you die or not - the results will be positive
on heaven or on earth.

Fay ~
When you ran, you honored your father's wish.  I
don't know of any adult that would consider this the wrong thing to do.  I have
5 daughters.  In a similar situation,  I would tell each of them to run and 4
would run.  The 5th would stand there and argue with me.  She would probably end
up dead on the floor. Your father didn't think about right or wrong, he thought
about what is best for you.  If he had not told you to run and you were shot,
imagine how he would have felt the rest of his life.
 
Quite frankly, as I see it, the Maker Of All wanted
you to spend more time on this earth...your father instructed you accordingly and you ran
according to tHis plan.

Now with all that said,......i do have my fair share of regrets.....which also has the power to keep ypur moralcompass pointed in the right direction.....but watch outfor magnets....

A lot of people  say they choose the lesser of two evils seem to forget that the lesser is also an evil.

Having watched parents of the graduating eighth grade class filing into the middle school, it seemed that many of them were dressed in a way that would not have been acceptable student attire when we graduated from there fifty-odd years ago.
The temps hovering in the mid-fifties, allow me to wear Peterman moleskin to our grandson's graduation this evening and avoid looking as though I was in the middle of cleaning the garage.
A small hawk lay dead near the street in the park looking like the victim of a car. I studied his razor beak and long sharp talons. There was no look in his eye. Small, almost colorless, ants had seen to that.

paolos ~
I've long lived with the fear that were I to scream, "DUCK," that my whole family would stand up craning to see what was going on.

Paolos I did not think of my father as being wrong - I understood - he wanted me to be safe - but because I run away - I punished myself most of my life -  Therefore what is the force that did not allow me to be at peace with myself when  I run away and it was the right thing to do.  I believe in fate and that it shapes my life - but why all this pain that I created within myself.  I never blamed anyone but myself.  Tell me why I decided to cause myself so much pain.  By you asking this question, Paolos - you open a new view of my actions.  I now start to get a little closer to becoming aware where this guilt comes from.  You gave me inside - I tell you one day when I have sorted it out a little more.  I realize - we are our own enemies - that is what life is all about.  Life is very complex - but at the same time extremely fascinating.  I do not need to read - my imagination is carrying me away to many distance places.  Never a dull moment in my life.  Pain can be creative - perhaps we produce our own pain to build our castles.  Pain are feelings that keep us humane.  No feelings and we die within. Perhaps when we see such destruction of mankind - creating pain within helps us hold on to our humanity.  What do you think, Paolos?  Am I getting anywhere?  Thank you.  Fay

In a recent news story involving elementary age boys playing cops and robbers, they pointed their pointer fingers at each other in pretense of firing weapons. They were observed and turned in for weapons violations in the "Zero  Tolerance" definition cited by their school rules. If you were the principal and legal officer of that school, could you in good conscience, suspend or punish those kids for a "weapons" violation? I think too much political correctness, zero this and zero that have gotten into the realm of absurd. Is this a case for a gray area, folks?

As for the ethical dilemma of Anthony Weiner 's resigning, it seems to me no debate at all:  anyone foolish enough to throw away his good name, his career, and his marriage for a titillating moment in front of his camera phone with an erection does NOT have the balanced, logical, responsible brain power to be voting on anything such as important issues representing thousands of citizens!! If he is a dolt about one thing, he is likely a dolt about others! He should go....as fast and as far as possible.

Fay ~ I think that what you understood as guilt was
more likely an unwillingness to accept that you were powerless in such a
situation.  It reminds me of one of Stoney's stories where he was the little kid
standing there with his fists clenched and his chin jutting out, as he tells
it:
 
She
and I had been having a walk when, for what seemed like the hundredth time, she
spoke of someone having lost a boy: this was not long after the war.
As she
told it; I stopped, stomped and with my fists at my side and little chin thrust
forward demanded: "What're we doin' walkin' around? Why don't we get all these
men who are sitting around in their undershirts smoking cigarettes and drinking
beer and go find 'em."
 
 
I know that your event was more intense and painful than Stoney's.  I think
we all have these moments in our lifetime.  They stay with us either as guilt or
anger or both, as they should.  They must be a part of the power that helps us to
develop our moral compass.
 
Are you getting anywhere, Fay? 
 
http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/475391  ;

 
I think your own photo answers your
question.

"What should fellows such as I do crawling between Earth and Heaven?"

Good ol' Bill!

Clinton?  Sorry, Luddite, someone had to ask.

LYNN:  Disabuse yourself of the Common Misnomer ... God NEVER said, Thou Shall Not Kill ...
 
What He said was, "You Shall Do No MURDER ..."  Big difference between Killing and Murder, and it is all about Attitude ...  IF ... God had said Shall Not Kill ... and then told Elijah to go and kill the 450 Prophets of Ba'al ... He would have been contradicting Himself, wouldn't He ... and that just doesn't happen ....... 
 
Is it always easier to understand things when one knows the Real Words ...

Fay~  I think paolos has really upon something. 
 
If our morality must dictate what actions we take, then your father was doing just that.  As a child, you were not expected to be able to do so with full knowledge and understanding of your actions.  That's why parents take responsibility for their children.  Accepting his morality was the proper course for you at that time.  No guilt is necessary.
 
paolos~ Very impressive insight.  Well done.

Thanks, Shandonista, now for something more like
what y'all have come to expect of me.
 
MISS BLUE ~ I ventured a step or two beyond your link into
uncharted waters, I don't know that anyone else did.  If not, it could be the
others heard their inner voice scream "DUNK".
 
"You stole from my
kin."
"Who was fixin' to betray
us."
"You didn't know that at the
time"
"So I borrowed it until I did
know."
"That don't make no
sense."
"It's a fool looks for logic in the
chambers of the human heart."
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_bhD0_Trw
 
"...and the preacher said that that
sin's been washed away too."
"Neither God nor man's got nothing on
me now.  Come on in boys, the water is fine."
 
One really has to see the film to appreciate the
beauty of it all.

Paolos - I know you are right - it was my powerlessness and my wanting to tear them apart because they wer laughting because they killed a man their age.  It was the most traumatic experience of my life and it affected my moral outlook on life.  Yes you are right - I was not able to do anything - and now I am able to do something and will never walk away ever again.   Even though I was not responsible as a child - I felt responsible for the destruction of my childhood years.  We are all responsible for the world and we must fight and always remember that one counts - I am trying to change the world because I know that whatever I do counts. 
 
You have five girls - how lucky can  you get.  What about putting some photos on face book - so I can look at them.  How did you get the photo of the dancing children.  I would not know how to find the two photos I sent.   Fay 

Thank you, Jalopkin, for setting it straight.  After so many translations the Ten Commandments have been paraphrased and rephrased.  True from the ancient word is "Thou shalt do no murder."  For the Hebrew "murder" was a deliberate act, legally one might say premeditated.  Killing was a defensive act.  

playing God is wrong....however, for me, playing God would be a doctor killing you without your consent. If you have absolutely zero quality of life and will linger for a long period and choose to be carried out on a cloud of morphine...I have no problem with that. If there is no means for the patient to communicate with the world, that alone could be justification, being unable to express pain or needs....that's a hell in it's self.

I wished to be guided ........ however 

"A thousand pictures can be drawn from one word
Only who is the artist
We got to agree
A thousand miles can lead so many ways
Just to know who is driving
What a help it would be"

Peterman, you're making my head hurt. 
 
I should be at the beach without a care in the world.  I'm leaving this to God, Shakespeare, and my heart. 
 
I'm betting good money the moral compass is right.

I'm with Nick. Freedom carries many dilemmas but one grand design-I OWN MY LIFE! Thank God.

Fay ~ How did I got your photo of the dancing
children?  Easy, I have a photographic memory.  If you bookmark the one photo
page, the icon under the location on that page will get you to the other page in
this case, here...
 
http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/368811
 
I don't facebook, yet I don't begrudge it of those
who do.  I don't think it good practice to post photos of young girls where they
can be accessed by who knows whom, especially if they are my daughters.  Too
much evil lurks out there in cyberville.
 
Jax ~ Of all the cats I have ever
met, Arthur was my favorite.  Sorry, sunshine.

RUSTY:  Thank You for your Say So .......  I have gotten into this discussion before, and have SHOWN people the Direct Translation from the Ancient Language of the Habiru, which we studied when I'm in Hebrew School, sixty years ago ... And the misnomer drives me nutz almost as much as unfortunates who think that, GOD ... is His Name .......  Even Jews, who do all that, G_D stuff ....... Some people are incapable of being taught, some people just will not be taught ... Some people want to feel comfortable with, "Well, God knows what I mean ..."   but God Himself said, thats not how it works ... One MUST know, the Words .......

A double play combination that makes no errors, Diety - Ol' Bill - Heart. The prettiest 6-4-3 combination ever devised.

It is surprising that physical courage would be so common in this world, and moral courage so rare.

MARK TWAIN

Good To See You, MISS PENN !!!

Paolo, how can I find the photos I entered in the contest? I tried putting my name and photo contest entries in the search bar with no luck. Do you know?

Mr. Ivan, always a pleasure to see you and your joyous heart. GOOD SHABBOS!!!