Do the Right Thing

Finding a solid basis for moral action is difficult. Laws are one guide, yet courts and legislatures routinely make decisions that make legal behaviors illegal, and vice versa. The Prohibition is an example. Moral behavior is trickier. Standards of morality also shift over time. Every society shares a collective sense of proper behavior, but around that consensus people inevitably differ to some degree. Between cultures, too, standards of morality vary. What forces, then, construct our moral sense? Vitally important are the rules of homes, schools, and communities that strongly shape a child's sense of right and wrong. Books, especially the Scriptures, also serve as influences or even definitive standards. Some say that more is caught than taught, and so role models are important. The life and conduct of a real person presents a flesh-and-blood pattern to which we try to conform. The heuristic, "What would Jesus do?" is, for many, the ultimate metric. All these influences converge to form our internal moral compass, our conscience. Is there a standard for all? At an abstract level, yes--"Love thy neighbor" is profoundly effective as a general rule, but its expressions are wildly variable. This means that we have creative freedom in the particulars; we are not moral clones. This is not an endorsement of relativism, but a concession to our imperfect knowledge of perfect morality in the details of life. Applied to the question, "What is the right thing?" this stance implies that the expressions of good, right, and loving actions are limitless.