When "morality" is out of fashion
Society would do well to take its cues from Christianity
No matter how tolerant we become, human beings simply cannot escape questions of right and wrong. Canadians may appear increasingly willing to accept a wide range of beliefs and behaviors as permissible or normal, but in many sectors of society–including business, law, medicine and journalism–demand for ethicists is growing.
The big change over the past few generations is that lawyers and judges have replaced preachers and politicians as the arbiters of social decency. And the very word "morality" is strangely out of vogue.
Consider a few examples. Last month the Globe and Mail reported on alcohol consumption at company Christmas parties, describing it as "a potent mix for sexual harassment" which leaves "corporations to face morning-after legal hangovers and cash settlements." According to the December 21 article, experts are now advising employers to eliminate or restrict alcohol at company parties.
One of the "experts," a Vancouver labor lawyer, told the Globe that "there’s no reason why employers have to provide alcohol to employees. And I’m not being moralistic at all [my emphasis]. I’m not anti-liquor at all. I just think you have to understand what it does to people." Why did the lawyer feel obliged to distance himself from the "moralist" vantage and attach his opinion firmly to demonstrable consequences?
Similar instances are not hard to find. In the late 1980s the United Church Observer reported that the largest Protestant denomination in Canada had banned smoking in its national offices. Again, the thrust of the article made it clear that the decision was not a matter of religious prejudice against tobacco, but was based instead on the scientifically verifiable concern that secondary smoke is harmful to others. Curious, is it not, that a Christian denomination required a secular regulation to explain a principle that the moralists knew through common sense a generation or two earlier.
On another front, would-be Casanovas on the night club scene are carrying consent forms along with their condoms to declare themselves free of disease and protect against possible date-rape suits. Meanwhile, medical evidence continues to demonstrate that sex outside of monogamous heterosexual relationships can be hazardous to your health. And a flurry of lawsuits relating to sexual exploitation or abuse provides ample testimony to the notion that a person’s well-being can be profoundly affected–for better or for worse–by their experiences of sexual intimacy. What does the best-informed wisdom of the age tell us that the moralists didn’t know already?
And what about gambling? Groups working to ban or limit the proliferation of VLTs in Alberta this year were happy to mobilize the churches for voter support. But the advocacy work was left largely to the business sector because all involved were aware its arguments would be more persuasive. Reasoning from moral principle is not potent enough on its own to influence public policy.
Religion is not an acceptable basis for public policy making. This was made abundantly clear in a December 16 decision by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Saunders, who ruled that a public school board cannot make decisions on the basis of religious beliefs (more in the January 19 edition of CW).
Fundamentalist credo
Which leaves us with a strange situation. Lawyers and ethicists and policy makers of all stripes are going through contortions to develop a host of regulations that end up sounding a lot like the old fundamentalist credo of no smoking, no drinking, no gambling and no sex outside marriage.
So what basis can we use to determine right from wrong? Getting a grip on the personal and social consequences of certain behaviors is not a bad place to start. And although it runs against the tenor of the times, policy makers ought to look to religion if only because it provides shortcuts to understanding the fallout of human activity.
I will not presume to speak on behalf of other religions, but society would do well to take its cues from Christianity. Any religion can be made onerous and legalistic, but at the heart of our faith lie two great commandments: love God, love your neighbor. It’s a wonderful starting point.
As Christians see it, God created the universe and through his Word provides us with the insight we need to live cooperatively within it. God warns against certain activities and attitudes because they are contrary to the nature of the universe he created. The Bible does not impose morality; it exposes it. It helps us to understand the natural consequences of our actions and encourages behavior conducive to individual and social health.
Love is never out of fashion, and love lies at the very centre of the Christian ethic: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). Sure beats another legal regulation.
Doug Koop
Editor
